Which to use
“reculer” and “refouler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,452
- “reculer” frequency rank
- #32,152
- “refouler” frequency rank
- 40604
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reculer | refouler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tirer ou pousser un objet en arrière. | Fouler (presser) de nouveau. |
Where the eye mixes reculer and refouler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. reculer runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against refouler's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: reculer vs refouler
A purely visual mix-up. reculer (\ʁə.ky.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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40604, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reculer is recorded at frequency rank #8,452, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ky.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 40604, this pair ranks #239,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of reculer vs refouler
Shared letters: elru. Private to "reculer": c. Private to "refouler": fo.
"reculer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "refouler" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "reculer" and "refouler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "reculer" vs "refouler" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "reculer" 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 #239,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reculer" 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 #239,297 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.