refilévsrefuseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,239
“refilé” frequency rank
#2,013
“refuse” frequency rank
37252
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature refilé refuse
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de refiler. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de refuser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set refilé and refuse apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
refilé
6 ch
refuse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. refilé (\ʁə.fi.le\) and refuse (\ʁə.fyz\) 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 37252, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

refilé is recorded at frequency rank #35,239, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fi.le\. refuse is at rank #2,013, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fyz\.

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 37252, this pair ranks #263,804 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of refilé vs refuse

Shared letters: efr. Private to "refilé": ilé. Private to "refuse": su.

"refilé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "refuse" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • refuseerfuse · reffuse · refsue · refues · refusse · reufse · rfeuse · rrefuse

Frequency comparison

refilé#35,239
refuse#2,013

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "refilé" and "refuse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.fi.le\ versus \ʁə.fyz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "refilé" or "refuse"?
"refuse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,013 in our French list, against #35,239 for "refilé". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering refilé vs refuse

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 “refilé” 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