réacteurvsrédacteursWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“réacteur” and “rédacteurs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,232
“réacteur” frequency rank
#17,261
“rédacteurs” frequency rank
27493
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réacteur rédacteurs
Definition Celui qui participe à une réaction. Pluriel de rédacteur.

Where the eye mixes réacteur and rédacteurs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. réacteur runs 8 letters (CVVCCVVC) against rédacteurs's 10 (CVCVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
réacteur
10 ch
rédacteurs

Why the eye confuses réacteur with rédacteurs

A purely visual mix-up. réacteur (\ʁe.ak.tœʁ\) and rédacteurs (\ʁe.dak.tœʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27493, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réacteur is recorded at frequency rank #10,232, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.ak.tœʁ\. rédacteurs is at rank #17,261, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.dak.tœʁ\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 27493, this pair ranks #328,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of réacteur vs rédacteurs

Shared letters: acertué. Private to "réacteur": -. Private to "rédacteurs": ds.

"réacteur" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC  ·  "rédacteurs" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "réacteur" and "rédacteurs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.ak.tœʁ\ versus \ʁe.dak.tœʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "réacteur" vs "rédacteurs" - which ranks higher?
"réacteur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,232 in our French list, against #17,261 for "rédacteurs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "réacteur" and "rédacteurs" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "réacteur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rédacteurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #328,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "réacteur" and "rédacteurs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recteurs vs rédacteurs". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #328,613 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list