Which to use
“refuse” and “reposé” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,013
- “refuse” frequency rank
- #25,794
- “reposé” frequency rank
- 27807
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refuse | reposé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de refuser. | Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe reposer. |
Where the eye mixes refuse and reposé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses refuse with reposé
A purely visual mix-up. refuse (\ʁə.fyz\) and reposé (\ʁə.po.ze\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27807, 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\. reposé is at rank #25,794, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.po.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 27807, this pair ranks #326,639 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of refuse vs reposé
Shared letters: ers. Private to "refuse": fu. Private to "reposé": opé.
"refuse" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "reposé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- refuse ← erfuse · reffuse · refsue · refues · refusse · reufse · rfeuse · rrefuse
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "refuse" for "reposé" ever safe?
Frequency check: "refuse" vs "reposé" - which ranks higher?
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 "refuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reposé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #326,639 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refuse" and "reposé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rejoué vs reposé". 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 #326,639 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.