Which to use
“référés” is a noun and “refermer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,540
- “référés” frequency rank
- #20,546
- “refermer” frequency rank
- 58086
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | référés | refermer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de référé. | Fermer de nouveau ; fermer ce qui était ouvert. |
Where the eye mixes référés and refermer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. référés runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against refermer's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses référés with refermer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: référés is \ʁe.fe.ʁe\ while refermer is \ʁə.fɛʁ.me\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
référés is recorded at frequency rank #37,540, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.fe.ʁe\. refermer is at rank #20,546, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fɛʁ.me\.
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 58086, this pair ranks #111,121 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of référés vs refermer
Shared letters: fr. Private to "référés": sé. Private to "refermer": em.
"référés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "refermer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- refermer ← erfermer · reefrmer · refemrer · referemr · refermerr · refermmer · refermre · referrmer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "référés" and "refermer" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "référés" or "refermer"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "référés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refermer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #111,121 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "référés" and "refermer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "référés vs rêveries". 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 #111,121 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.