Which to use
“réfuter” and “remuer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,119
- “réfuter” frequency rank
- #17,251
- “remuer” frequency rank
- 42370
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | réfuter | remuer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Mouvoir, déplacer. |
Where the eye mixes réfuter and remuer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. réfuter runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against remuer's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between réfuter and remuer
A purely visual mix-up. réfuter (\ʁe.fy.te\) and remuer (\ʁə.mɥe\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42370, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
réfuter is recorded at frequency rank #25,119, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.fy.te\. remuer is at rank #17,251, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.mɥe\.
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 42370, this pair ranks #226,127 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of réfuter vs remuer
Shared letters: eru. Private to "réfuter": fté. Private to "remuer": m.
"réfuter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "remuer" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- remuer ← ermuer · remeur · remmuer · remuerr · remure · reumer · rmeuer · rremuer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "réfuter" for "remuer" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "réfuter" or "remuer" 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 "réfuter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "remuer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #226,127 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "réfuter" and "remuer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réfuter vs relater". 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 #226,127 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.