refusvsreussWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“refus” and “reuss” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,164
“refus” frequency rank
#45,843
“reuss” frequency rank
49007
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature refus reuss
Definition Action de ne pas accorder ce qui est demandé. Sœur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set refus and reuss apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
refus
5 ch
reuss

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. refus (\ʁə.fy\) and reuss (\ʁœs\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

refus is recorded at frequency rank #3,164, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.fy\. reuss is at rank #45,843, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁœs\.

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 49007, this pair ranks #174,242 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of refus vs reuss

Shared letters: ersu. Private to "refus": f. Private to "reuss": -.

"refus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "reuss" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • refuserfus · reffus · refsu · refuss · reufs · rfeus · rrefus
  • reusseruss · resus · rreuss

Frequency comparison

refus#3,164
reuss#45,843

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "refus" and "reuss" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.fy\ versus \ʁœs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "refus" or "reuss"?
"refus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,164 in our French list, against #45,843 for "reuss". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering refus vs reuss

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “refus” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list