réjouissant vs repoussant, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“réjouissant” and “repoussant” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,711
“réjouissant” frequency rank: #22,681
“repoussant” frequency rank: 54392
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	réjouissant	repoussant
Definition	Qui réjouit, qui amuse.	Qui inspire de l’aversion, du dégoût.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set réjouissant and repoussant apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch

réjouissant

10 ch

repoussant

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

réjouissant and repoussant are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réjouissant is recorded at frequency rank #31,711, classified as anadj. repoussant is at rank #22,681, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.pu.sɑ̃\.

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 54392, this pair ranks #134,339 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of réjouissant vs repoussant

Shared letters: anorstu. Private to "réjouissant": ijé. Private to "repoussant": ep.

"réjouissant" · 11 letters · shape CVCVVVCCVCC · "repoussant" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

repoussant ← erpoussant · reopussant · reposusant · repousant · repousasnt · repoussannt · repoussantt · repoussatn

Frequency comparison

réjouissant#31,711

repoussant#22,681

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réjouissant" and "repoussant" be used interchangeably?

No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "réjouissant" or "repoussant"?

"repoussant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,681 in our French list, against #31,711 for "réjouissant". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering réjouissant vs repoussant

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “réjouissant” entry
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