Which to use
“refusait” and “reposait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,851
- “refusait” frequency rank
- #21,754
- “reposait” frequency rank
- 34605
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refusait | reposait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de refuser. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de reposer. |
Where the eye mixes refusait and reposait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses refusait with reposait
A purely visual mix-up. refusait (\ʁə.fy.zɛ\) and reposait (\ʁə.po.zɛ\) 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 34605, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refusait is recorded at frequency rank #12,851, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fy.zɛ\. reposait is at rank #21,754, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.po.zɛ\.
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 34605, this pair ranks #282,658 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of refusait vs reposait
Shared letters: aeirst. Private to "refusait": fu. Private to "reposait": op.
"refusait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "reposait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "refusait" for "reposait" ever safe?
Frequency check: "refusait" vs "reposait" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "refusait" and "reposait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "refusait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reposait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #282,658 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refusait" and "reposait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reposaient vs reposait". 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 #282,658 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.