Which to use
“refouler” and “réfuter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,152
- “refouler” frequency rank
- #25,119
- “réfuter” frequency rank
- 57271
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refouler | réfuter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fouler (presser) de nouveau. | 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 refouler and réfuter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. refouler runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against réfuter's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses refouler with réfuter
A purely visual mix-up. refouler (\ʁə.fu.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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refouler is recorded at frequency rank #32,152, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fu.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 57271, this pair ranks #116,052 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of refouler vs réfuter
Shared letters: efru. Private to "refouler": lo. Private to "réfuter": té.
"refouler" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "réfuter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- refouler ← erfouler · reffouler · refoluer · refouelr · refoulerr · refouller · refoulre · refuoler
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "refouler" and "réfuter" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "refouler" or "réfuter"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "refouler" and "réfuter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "refouler" 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 #116,052 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refouler" and "réfuter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refoulée vs refouler". 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 #116,052 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.