Which to use
“recouper” and “redouter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,753
- “recouper” frequency rank
- #31,681
- “redouter” frequency rank
- 80434
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recouper | redouter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Couper de nouveau. | Craindre fort. |
Where the eye mixes recouper and redouter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses recouper with redouter
A purely visual mix-up. recouper (\ʁə.ku.pe\) and redouter (\ʁə.du.te\) 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 80434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recouper is recorded at frequency rank #48,753, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ku.pe\. redouter is at rank #31,681, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.du.te\.
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 80434, this pair ranks #20,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of recouper vs redouter
Shared letters: eoru. Private to "recouper": cp. Private to "redouter": dt.
"recouper" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "redouter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "recouper" and "redouter" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "recouper" or "redouter"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "recouper" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "redouter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recouper" and "redouter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recoucher vs recouper". 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 #20,940 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.