Which to use
“rebours” is a noun and “réjouis” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,736
- “rebours” frequency rank
- #16,231
- “réjouis” frequency rank
- 31967
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rebours | réjouis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sens contraire de ce qui est ou de ce qui doit être. | Masculin pluriel de réjoui. |
Where the eye mixes rebours and réjouis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. rebours (CVCVVCC) and réjouis (CVCVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses rebours with réjouis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rebours is \ʁə.buʁ\ while réjouis is \ʁe.ʒwi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rebours is recorded at frequency rank #15,736, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.buʁ\. réjouis is at rank #16,231, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.ʒwi\.
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 31967, this pair ranks #300,431 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rebours vs réjouis
Shared letters: orsu. Private to "rebours": be. Private to "réjouis": ijé.
"rebours" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "réjouis" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- rebours ← erbours · rbeours · rebbours · reborus · rebourrs · rebourss · rebousr · rebuors
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rebours" and "réjouis" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "rebours" or "réjouis" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "rebours" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "réjouis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #300,431 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rebours" and "réjouis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rejoué vs réjouis". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #300,431 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.