Which to use
“recoller” and “refouler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,511
- “recoller” frequency rank
- #32,152
- “refouler” frequency rank
- 61663
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recoller | refouler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Coller de nouveau. | Fouler (presser) de nouveau. |
Where the eye mixes recoller and refouler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. recoller (CVCVCCVC) and refouler (CVCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between recoller and refouler
A purely visual mix-up. recoller (\ʁə.kɔ.le\) and refouler (\ʁə.fu.le\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61663, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recoller is recorded at frequency rank #29,511, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.kɔ.le\. refouler is at rank #32,152, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fu.le\.
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 61663, this pair ranks #91,109 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of recoller vs refouler
Shared letters: elor. Private to "recoller": c. Private to "refouler": fu.
"recoller" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "refouler" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "recoller" for "refouler" ever safe?
Frequency check: "recoller" vs "refouler" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "recoller" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refouler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #91,109 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recoller" and "refouler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refoulée vs refouler". 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 #91,109 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.