Which to use
“refermer” and “renfermer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,546
- “refermer” frequency rank
- #48,153
- “renfermer” frequency rank
- 68699
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refermer | renfermer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fermer de nouveau ; fermer ce qui était ouvert. | Enfermer de nouveau. |
Where the eye mixes refermer and renfermer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. refermer runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against renfermer's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between refermer and renfermer
A purely visual mix-up. refermer (\ʁə.fɛʁ.me\) and renfermer (\ʁɑ̃.fɛʁ.me\) 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 68699, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refermer is recorded at frequency rank #20,546, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fɛʁ.me\. renfermer is at rank #48,153, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁɑ̃.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 68699, this pair ranks #58,053 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of refermer vs renfermer
Shared letters: efmr. Private to "refermer": -. Private to "renfermer": n.
"refermer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "renfermer" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "refermer" for "renfermer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "refermer" or "renfermer"?
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 "refermer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "renfermer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,053 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refermer" and "renfermer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refermée vs renfermer". 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 #58,053 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.