Which to use
“refiler” and “réfuter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,334
- “refiler” frequency rank
- #25,119
- “réfuter” frequency rank
- 55453
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refiler | réfuter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Donner ou passer quelque chose à quelqu’un. | Combattre, détruire par des raisons convaincantes ce qu’un autre a avancé ; prouver que ce qu’un adversaire a dit est mal fondé ou n’est pas vrai. |
Where the eye mixes refiler and réfuter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses refiler with réfuter
A purely visual mix-up. refiler (\ʁə.fi.le\) and réfuter (\ʁe.fy.te\) 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 55453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refiler is recorded at frequency rank #30,334, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fi.le\. réfuter is at rank #25,119, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.fy.te\.
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 55453, this pair ranks #127,336 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of refiler vs réfuter
Shared letters: efr. Private to "refiler": il. Private to "réfuter": tué.
"refiler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "réfuter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- refiler ← erfiler · reffiler · refielr · refilerr · refiller · refilre · reflier · reifler
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "refiler" and "réfuter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "refiler" vs "réfuter" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "refiler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "réfuter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #127,336 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refiler" and "réfuter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refiler vs renifler". 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 #127,336 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.