Which to use
“réfugiées” and “réfugiés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,584
- “réfugiées” frequency rank
- #3,421
- “réfugiés” frequency rank
- 51005
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | réfugiées | réfugiés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de réfugié. | Masculin pluriel de réfugié. |
Same sound, different letters: réfugiées vs réfugiés
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. réfugiées runs 9 letters (CVCVCVVVC) against réfugiés's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - réfugiées and réfugiés
This is the hard kind. réfugiées and réfugiés are pronounced identically (\ʁe.fy.ʒje\) and both work as anadjective. 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
réfugiées is recorded at frequency rank #47,584, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.fy.ʒje\. réfugiés is at rank #3,421, tagged as anadj, 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 51005, this pair ranks #158,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of réfugiées vs réfugiés
Shared letters: fgirsué. Private to "réfugiées": e. Private to "réfugiés": -.
"réfugiées" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVVC · "réfugiés" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "réfugiées" for "réfugiés" ever safe?
Frequency check: "réfugiées" vs "réfugiés" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
"réfugiées" and "réfugiés" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "réfugiées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "réfugiés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #158,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "réfugiées" and "réfugiés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réfugiées vs réfugient". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #158,292 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.