Which to use
“réfugié” and “réfugiée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,939
- “réfugié” frequency rank
- #31,709
- “réfugiée” frequency rank
- 42648
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | réfugié | réfugiée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personne qui a quitté son pays ou sa région pour fuir un danger. | Femme réfugiée. |
Same sound, different letters: réfugié vs réfugiée
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. réfugié runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against réfugiée's 8 (CVCVCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - réfugié / réfugiée
This is the hard kind. réfugié and réfugiée are pronounced identically (\ʁe.fy.ʒje\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “réfugié” sits inside “réfugiée”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
réfugié is recorded at frequency rank #10,939, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.fy.ʒje\. réfugiée is at rank #31,709, 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 42648, this pair ranks #224,024 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of réfugié vs réfugiée
Shared letters: fgirué. Private to "réfugié": -. Private to "réfugiée": e.
"réfugié" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "réfugiée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "réfugié" and "réfugiée" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "réfugié" or "réfugiée"?
Useful next steps
"réfugié" and "réfugiée" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "réfugié" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "réfugiée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #224,024 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "réfugié" and "réfugiée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réfugiée vs réfugiées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #224,024 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.