Which to use
“reins” and “repos” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,059
- “reins” frequency rank
- #2,894
- “repos” frequency rank
- 12953
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reins | repos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de rein. | Privation, cessation de mouvement, d’activité ou d’effort. |
Where the eye mixes reins and repos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. reins (CVVCC) and repos (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between reins and repos
A purely visual mix-up. reins (\ʁɛ̃\) and repos (\ʁə.po\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12953, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reins is recorded at frequency rank #10,059, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɛ̃\. repos is at rank #2,894, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.po\.
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 12953, this pair ranks #403,046 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reins vs repos
Shared letters: ers. Private to "reins": in. Private to "repos": op.
"reins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "repos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "reins" for "repos" ever safe?
Which is more common, "reins" or "repos"?
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 "reins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "repos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #403,046 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reins" and "repos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reins vs Reis". 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 #403,046 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.