Which to use
“rebrousser” and “repousser” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,566
- “rebrousser” frequency rank
- #7,492
- “repousser” frequency rank
- 50058
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rebrousser | repousser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Relever du sens contraire à celui dont ils sont naturellement couchés, en parlant des cheveux et du poil. | Pousser en arrière, rejeter ; faire reculer quelqu’un, écarter de soi quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes rebrousser and repousser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. rebrousser runs 10 letters (CVCCVVCCVC) against repousser's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses rebrousser with repousser
A purely visual mix-up. rebrousser (\ʁə.bʁu.se\) and repousser (\ʁə.pu.se\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rebrousser is recorded at frequency rank #42,566, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.bʁu.se\. repousser is at rank #7,492, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.pu.se\.
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 50058, this pair ranks #165,625 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rebrousser vs repousser
Shared letters: eorsu. Private to "rebrousser": b. Private to "repousser": p.
"rebrousser" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC · "repousser" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- rebrousser ← erbrousser · rberousser · rebbrousser · reborusser · rebrosuser · rebrouser · rebrousesr · rebrousserr
- repousser ← erpousser · reopusser · reposuser · repouser · repousesr · repousserr · repoussre · reppousser
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rebrousser" and "repousser" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "rebrousser" or "repousser"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rebrousser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "repousser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #165,625 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rebrousser" and "repousser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repoussées vs repousser". 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 #165,625 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.