Which to use
“référé” and “référés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,408
- “référé” frequency rank
- #37,540
- “référés” frequency rank
- 59948
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | référé | référés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Recours au juge qui, dans les cas d’urgence, prend une décision provisoire. | Pluriel de référé. |
Same sound, different letters: référé vs référés
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. référé runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against référés's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: référé vs référés
This is the hard kind. référé and référés are pronounced identically (\ʁe.fe.ʁe\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “référé” sits inside “référés”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
référé is recorded at frequency rank #22,408, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.fe.ʁe\. référés is at rank #37,540, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.fe.ʁe\.
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 59948, this pair ranks #100,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of référé vs référés
Shared letters: fré. Private to "référé": -. Private to "référés": s.
"référé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "référés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "référé" and "référés" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "référé" or "référés"?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "référé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "référés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #100,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "référé" and "référés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "référés vs rêveries". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #100,275 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.