Which to use
“redouter” and “réfuter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,681
- “redouter” frequency rank
- #25,119
- “réfuter” frequency rank
- 56800
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | redouter | réfuter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Craindre fort. | Combattre, détruire par des raisons convaincantes ce qu’un autre a avancé ; prouver que ce qu’un adversaire a dit est mal fondé ou n’est pas vrai. |
Where the eye mixes redouter and réfuter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses redouter with réfuter
A purely visual mix-up. redouter (\ʁə.du.te\) and réfuter (\ʁe.fy.te\) 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 56800, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
redouter is recorded at frequency rank #31,681, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.du.te\. réfuter is at rank #25,119, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.fy.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 56800, this pair ranks #118,832 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of redouter vs réfuter
Shared letters: ertu. Private to "redouter": do. Private to "réfuter": fé.
"redouter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "réfuter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- redouter ← erdouter · rdeouter · reddouter · redotuer · redouetr · redouterr · redoutre · redoutter
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "redouter" for "réfuter" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "redouter" or "réfuter" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "redouter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "réfuter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #118,832 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "redouter" and "réfuter" 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 #118,832 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.