Which to use
“régresser” and “regretter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,709
- “régresser” frequency rank
- #6,881
- “regretter” frequency rank
- 51590
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | régresser | regretter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Diminuer en qualité, force ou quantité | Avoir du chagrin de l’absence, de la perte, de la mort de quelqu’un. |
Where the eye mixes régresser and regretter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. régresser and regretter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: régresser vs regretter
A purely visual mix-up. régresser (\ʁe.ɡʁe.se\) and regretter (\ʁə.ɡʁe.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 51590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
régresser is recorded at frequency rank #44,709, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.ɡʁe.se\. regretter is at rank #6,881, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ɡʁe.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 51590, this pair ranks #153,889 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of régresser vs regretter
Shared letters: egr. Private to "régresser": sé. Private to "regretter": t.
"régresser" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "regretter" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- regretter ← ergretter · regertter · reggretter · regreter · regretetr · regretterr · regrettre · regrretter
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "régresser" and "regretter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "régresser" or "regretter" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "régresser" and "regretter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "régresser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "regretter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #153,889 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "régresser" and "regretter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "régressé vs régresser". 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 #153,889 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.