Which to use
“relayer” and “retaper” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,547
- “relayer” frequency rank
- #33,868
- “retaper” frequency rank
- 54415
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | relayer | retaper |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prendre des relais de chevaux frais. | Remettre en état ce qui a été froissé, bossué, détérioré. |
Where the eye mixes relayer and retaper
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between relayer and retaper
A purely visual mix-up. relayer (\ʁə.le.je\) and retaper (\ʁə.ta.pe\) 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 54415, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
relayer is recorded at frequency rank #20,547, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.le.je\. retaper is at rank #33,868, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ta.pe\.
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 54415, this pair ranks #134,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of relayer vs retaper
Shared letters: aer. Private to "relayer": ly. Private to "retaper": pt.
"relayer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC · "retaper" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "relayer" for "retaper" ever safe?
Frequency check: "relayer" vs "retaper" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "relayer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retaper" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #134,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "relayer" and "retaper" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reader vs retaper". 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 #134,198 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.