Which to use
“recteurs” and “retours” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,514
- “recteurs” frequency rank
- #6,651
- “retours” frequency rank
- 44165
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recteurs | retours |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de recteur. | Pluriel de retour. |
Where the eye mixes recteurs and retours
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between recteurs and retours
A purely visual mix-up. recteurs (\ʁɛk.tœʁ\) and retours (\ʁə.tuʁ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recteurs is recorded at frequency rank #37,514, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛk.tœʁ\. retours is at rank #6,651, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.tuʁ\.
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 44165, this pair ranks #212,540 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recteurs vs retours
Shared letters: erstu. Private to "recteurs": c. Private to "retours": o.
"recteurs" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "retours" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "recteurs" for "retours" ever safe?
Frequency check: "recteurs" vs "retours" - which ranks higher?
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 "recteurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retours" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #212,540 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recteurs" and "retours" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recteurs vs routeurs". 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 #212,540 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.