Which to use
“refoulés” and “refusés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,125
- “refoulés” frequency rank
- #27,595
- “refusés” frequency rank
- 63720
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refoulés | refusés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de refoulé. | Masculin pluriel de refusé. |
Where the eye mixes refoulés and refusés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. refoulés runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against refusés's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: refoulés vs refusés
A purely visual mix-up. refoulés (\ʁə.fu.le\) and refusés (\ʁə.fy.ze\) 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 63720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refoulés is recorded at frequency rank #36,125, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.fu.le\. refusés is at rank #27,595, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.fy.ze\.
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 63720, this pair ranks #80,542 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of refoulés vs refusés
Shared letters: efrsué. Private to "refoulés": lo. Private to "refusés": -.
"refoulés" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "refusés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "refoulés" and "refusés" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "refoulés" vs "refusés" - 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 "refoulés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refusés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #80,542 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refoulés" and "refusés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refoulée vs refoulés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #80,542 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.