Which to use
“réformée” and “refoulée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,860
- “réformée” frequency rank
- #49,899
- “refoulée” frequency rank
- 76759
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | réformée | refoulée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de réformé. | Féminin singulier de refoulé. |
Where the eye mixes réformée and refoulée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. réformée (CVCVCCVV) and refoulée (CVCVVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses réformée with refoulée
A purely visual mix-up. réformée (\ʁe.fɔʁ.me\) and refoulée (\ʁə.fu.le\) 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 76759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
réformée is recorded at frequency rank #26,860, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.fɔʁ.me\. refoulée is at rank #49,899, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.fu.le\.
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 76759, this pair ranks #30,239 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of réformée vs refoulée
Shared letters: eforé. Private to "réformée": m. Private to "refoulée": lu.
"réformée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "refoulée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "réformée" for "refoulée" ever safe?
Frequency check: "réformée" vs "refoulée" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "réformée" and "refoulée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "réformée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refoulée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #30,239 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "réformée" and "refoulée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refoulée vs régulée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #30,239 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.