Which to use
“record” and “retard” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,244
- “record” frequency rank
- #1,494
- “retard” frequency rank
- 3738
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | record | retard |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Exploit sportif dépassant tout ce qui a été fait précédemment dans le même genre, et officiellement constaté. | Fait d’arriver, de se produire plus tard que prévu, d’agir trop tard ; délai, remise, ralentissement. |
Where the eye mixes record and retard
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: record vs retard
A purely visual mix-up. record (\ʁə.kɔʁ\) and retard (\ʁə.taʁ\) 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 3738, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
record is recorded at frequency rank #2,244, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.kɔʁ\. retard is at rank #1,494, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.taʁ\.
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 3738, this pair ranks #433,308 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of record vs retard
Shared letters: der. Private to "record": co. Private to "retard": at.
"record" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "retard" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "record" and "retard" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "record" or "retard"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "record" and "retard" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "record" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retard" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,308 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "record" and "retard" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retard vs rotary". 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 #433,308 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.