Which to use
“refuse” and “refuser” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,013
- “refuse” frequency rank
- #3,562
- “refuser” frequency rank
- 5575
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refuse | refuser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de refuser. | Rejeter une demande, ne pas accorder ce qui est demandé ; ne pas vouloir faire ce qui est exigé, prescrit, ordonné. |
Where the eye mixes refuse and refuser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: refuse vs refuser
A purely visual mix-up. refuse (\ʁə.fyz\) and refuser (\ʁə.fy.ze\) 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 extra letter(s) - “refuse” sits inside “refuser”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5575, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refuse is recorded at frequency rank #2,013, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fyz\. refuser is at rank #3,562, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fy.ze\.
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 5575, this pair ranks #428,625 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of refuse vs refuser
Shared letters: efrsu. Private to "refuse": -. Private to "refuser": -.
"refuse" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "refuser" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "refuse" and "refuser" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "refuse" or "refuser" show up more?
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 "refuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refuser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #428,625 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refuse" and "refuser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rébus vs refuse". 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 #428,625 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.