Which to use
“régent” and “retenu” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,001
- “régent” frequency rank
- #4,613
- “retenu” frequency rank
- 20614
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | régent | retenu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui régit, qui gouverne l’État pendant la minorité, l’incapacité ou l’absence du souverain. | Qui est circonspect, sage, modéré, réservé. |
Where the eye mixes régent and retenu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: régent vs retenu
A purely visual mix-up. régent (\ʁe.ʒɑ̃\) and retenu (\ʁət.ny\) 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 20614, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
régent is recorded at frequency rank #16,001, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.ʒɑ̃\. retenu is at rank #4,613, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁət.ny\.
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 20614, this pair ranks #367,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of régent vs retenu
Shared letters: enrt. Private to "régent": gé. Private to "retenu": u.
"régent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "retenu" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- retenu ← ertenu · reetnu · retennu · reteun · retneu · rettenu · rretenu · rteenu
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "régent" for "retenu" ever safe?
Frequency check: "régent" vs "retenu" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "régent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retenu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #367,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "régent" and "retenu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "régent vs rement". 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 #367,379 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.