Which to use
“réfugient” and “refusent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,981
- “réfugient” frequency rank
- #5,915
- “refusent” frequency rank
- 46896
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | réfugient | refusent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de réfugier. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de refuser. |
Where the eye mixes réfugient and refusent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: réfugient vs refusent
A purely visual mix-up. réfugient (\ʁe.fy.ʒi\) and refusent (\ʁə.fyz\) 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 46896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
réfugient is recorded at frequency rank #40,981, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.fy.ʒi\. refusent is at rank #5,915, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fyz\.
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 46896, this pair ranks #191,189 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of réfugient vs refusent
Shared letters: efnrtu. Private to "réfugient": gié. Private to "refusent": s.
"réfugient" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC · "refusent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- refusent ← erfusent · reffusent · refsuent · refuesnt · refusennt · refusentt · refusetn · refusnet
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "réfugient" for "refusent" ever safe?
Frequency check: "réfugient" vs "refusent" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "réfugient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refusent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #191,189 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "réfugient" and "refusent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réfugiées vs réfugient". 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 #191,189 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.