réflexevsrefluxWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: réflexe is a adjective, reflux is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“réflexe” is an adjective and “reflux” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,738
“réflexe” frequency rank
#27,216
“reflux” frequency rank
36954
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réflexe reflux
Definition Qui se fait par réflexion. Mouvement réglé de la mer qui se retire du rivage après le flux.

Where the eye mixes réflexe and reflux

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
réflexe
6 ch
reflux

Look-alike desk: réflexe vs reflux

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: réflexe is \ʁe.flɛks\ while reflux is \ʁə.fly\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réflexe is recorded at frequency rank #9,738, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.flɛks\. reflux is at rank #27,216, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.fly\.

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 36954, this pair ranks #265,931 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of réflexe vs reflux

Shared letters: eflrx. Private to "réflexe": é. Private to "reflux": u.

"réflexe" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "reflux" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • refluxerflux · refflux · refllux · refluxx · reflxu · refulx · relfux · rfelux

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réflexe" and "reflux" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "réflexe" is an adjective and "reflux" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "réflexe" or "reflux"?
"réflexe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,738 in our French list, against #27,216 for "reflux". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "réflexe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reflux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #265,931 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "réflexe" and "reflux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reflux vs rénaux". 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 #265,931 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list