Which to use
“refroidir” is a verb and “refroidis” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,739
- “refroidir” frequency rank
- #40,957
- “refroidis” frequency rank
- 56696
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refroidir | refroidis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rendre froid. | Masculin pluriel de refroidi. |
Where the eye mixes refroidir and refroidis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses refroidir with refroidis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: refroidir is \ʁə.fʁwa.diʁ\ while refroidis is \ʁə.fʁwa.di\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “refroidir” becomes s in “refroidis”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56696, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refroidir is recorded at frequency rank #15,739, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fʁwa.diʁ\. refroidis is at rank #40,957, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.fʁwa.di\.
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 56696, this pair ranks #119,479 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of refroidir vs refroidis
Shared letters: defior. Private to "refroidir": -. Private to "refroidis": s.
"refroidir" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "refroidis" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "refroidir" and "refroidis" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "refroidir" vs "refroidis" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "refroidir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refroidis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #119,479 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refroidir" and "refroidis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refroidie vs refroidis". 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 #119,479 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.