récentevsréticenteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,958
“récente” frequency rank
#45,855
“réticente” frequency rank
49813
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature récente réticente
Definition Féminin singulier de récent. Féminin singulier de réticent.

Where the eye mixes récente and réticente

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. récente runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against réticente's 9 (CVCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
récente
9 ch
réticente

Look-alike desk: récente vs réticente

A purely visual mix-up. récente (\ʁe.sɑ̃t\) and réticente (\ʁe.ti.sɑ̃t\) 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 49813, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

récente is recorded at frequency rank #3,958, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.sɑ̃t\. réticente is at rank #45,855, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.ti.sɑ̃t\.

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 49813, this pair ranks #167,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of récente vs réticente

Shared letters: cenrté. Private to "récente": -. Private to "réticente": i.

"récente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "réticente" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "récente" and "réticente" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.sɑ̃t\ versus \ʁe.ti.sɑ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "récente" or "réticente"?
"récente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,958 in our French list, against #45,855 for "réticente". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "récente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "réticente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #167,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "récente" and "réticente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réticente vs retienne". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #167,681 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