Which to use
“refusez” and “réfuter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,714
- “refusez” frequency rank
- #25,119
- “réfuter” frequency rank
- 53833
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refusez | réfuter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de refuser. | Combattre, détruire par des raisons convaincantes ce qu’un autre a avancé ; prouver que ce qu’un adversaire a dit est mal fondé ou n’est pas vrai. |
Where the eye mixes refusez and réfuter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. refusez and réfuter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses refusez with réfuter
A purely visual mix-up. refusez (\ʁə.fy.ze\) and réfuter (\ʁe.fy.te\) 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 53833, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refusez is recorded at frequency rank #28,714, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fy.ze\. réfuter is at rank #25,119, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.fy.te\.
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 53833, this pair ranks #138,077 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of refusez vs réfuter
Shared letters: efru. Private to "refusez": sz. Private to "réfuter": té.
"refusez" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "réfuter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- refusez ← erfusez · reffusez · refsuez · refuesz · refusezz · refussez · refusze · reufsez
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "refusez" and "réfuter" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "refusez" vs "réfuter" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "refusez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "réfuter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #138,077 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refusez" and "réfuter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réduisez vs refusez". 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 #138,077 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.