Which to use
“recruter” and “redouter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,229
- “recruter” frequency rank
- #31,681
- “redouter” frequency rank
- 38910
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recruter | redouter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lever des hommes pour le service militaire. | Craindre fort. |
Where the eye mixes recruter and redouter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between recruter and redouter
A purely visual mix-up. recruter (\ʁə.kʁy.te\) 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 38910, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recruter is recorded at frequency rank #7,229, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.kʁy.te\. 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 38910, this pair ranks #251,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recruter vs redouter
Shared letters: ertu. Private to "recruter": c. Private to "redouter": do.
"recruter" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "redouter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "recruter" and "redouter" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "recruter" or "redouter"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "recruter" 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 #251,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recruter" and "redouter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recouper vs redouter". 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 #251,927 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.