Which to use
“refuges” and “réfugié” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,836
- “refuges” frequency rank
- #10,939
- “réfugié” frequency rank
- 31775
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refuges | réfugié |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de refuge. | Personne qui a quitté son pays ou sa région pour fuir un danger. |
Where the eye mixes refuges and réfugié
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. refuges (CVCVCVC) and réfugié (CVCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses refuges with réfugié
A purely visual mix-up. refuges (\ʁə.fyʒ\) and réfugié (\ʁe.fy.ʒje\) 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 31775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refuges is recorded at frequency rank #20,836, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.fyʒ\. réfugié is at rank #10,939, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.fy.ʒje\.
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 31775, this pair ranks #301,632 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of refuges vs réfugié
Shared letters: fgru. Private to "refuges": es. Private to "réfugié": ié.
"refuges" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "réfugié" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- refuges ← erfuges · reffuges · refgues · refuegs · refugess · refugges · refugse · reufges
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "refuges" and "réfugié" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "refuges" vs "réfugié" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "refuges" and "réfugié" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "refuges" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "réfugié" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #301,632 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refuges" and "réfugié" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refuges vs réfugiées". 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 #301,632 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.