Which to use
“refusa” and “refuse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,038
- “refusa” frequency rank
- #2,013
- “refuse” frequency rank
- 20051
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refusa | refuse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de refuser. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de refuser. |
Where the eye mixes refusa and refuse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: refusa vs refuse
A purely visual mix-up. refusa (\ʁə.fy.za\) and refuse (\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 a single letter - a in “refusa” becomes e in “refuse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20051, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refusa is recorded at frequency rank #18,038, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fy.za\. refuse is at rank #2,013, 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 20051, this pair ranks #370,176 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of refusa vs refuse
Shared letters: efrsu. Private to "refusa": a. Private to "refuse": -.
"refusa" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "refuse" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "refusa" and "refuse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "refusa" or "refuse"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "refusa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refuse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #370,176 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refusa" and "refuse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rébus vs refusa". 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 #370,176 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.