réélirevsrefaireWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,650
“réélire” frequency rank
#3,357
“refaire” frequency rank
47007
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réélire refaire
Definition Élire de nouveau. Faire de nouveau ce qu’on a déjà fait.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set réélire and refaire apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
réélire
7 ch
refaire

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. réélire (\ʁe.e.liʁ\) and refaire (\ʁə.fɛʁ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réélire is recorded at frequency rank #43,650, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.e.liʁ\. refaire is at rank #3,357, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fɛʁ\.

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 47007, this pair ranks #190,369 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of réélire vs refaire

Shared letters: eir. Private to "réélire": . Private to "refaire": af.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • refaireerfaire · reafire · refaier · refairre · refarie · reffaire · refiare · rfeaire

Frequency comparison

réélire#43,650
refaire#3,357

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réélire" and "refaire" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁe.e.liʁ\ versus \ʁə.fɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "réélire" or "refaire"?
"refaire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,357 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.

Remembering réélire vs refaire

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “réélire” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list