réduirevsréélireWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“réduire” and “réélire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,754
“réduire” frequency rank
#43,650
“réélire” frequency rank
45404
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réduire réélire
Definition Restreindre, diminuer, ou faire diminuer. Élire de nouveau.

Where the eye mixes réduire and réélire

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
réduire
7 ch
réélire

Look-alike desk: réduire vs réélire

A purely visual mix-up. réduire (\ʁe.dɥiʁ\) and réélire (\ʁe.e.liʁ\) 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 45404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réduire is recorded at frequency rank #1,754, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.dɥiʁ\. réélire is at rank #43,650, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.e.liʁ\.

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 45404, this pair ranks #202,952 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of réduire vs réélire

Shared letters: eiré. Private to "réduire": du. Private to "réélire": l.

"réduire" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "réélire" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réduire" and "réélire" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.dɥiʁ\ versus \ʁe.e.liʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "réduire" or "réélire"?
"réduire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,754 in our French list, against #43,650 for "réélire". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "réduire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "réélire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #202,952 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "réduire" and "réélire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réélire vs repliée". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #202,952 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list