remordsvsremousWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,676
“remords” frequency rank
#19,652
“remous” frequency rank
33328
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature remords remous
Definition Reproche, tourment, regret sincère provoqué par la conscience d’avoir mal agi. Retour de l’eau sur elle-même dans le sillage d’un navire en marche.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set remords and remous apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
remords
6 ch
remous

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. remords (\ʁə.mɔʁ\) and remous (\ʁə.mu\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33328, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

remords is recorded at frequency rank #13,676, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.mɔʁ\. remous is at rank #19,652, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.mu\.

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 33328, this pair ranks #291,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of remords vs remous

Shared letters: emors. Private to "remords": d. Private to "remous": u.

"remords" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "remous" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • remordsermords · remmords · remodrs · remordds · remordss · remorrds · remorsd · remrods
  • remousermous · remmous · remosu · remouss · remuos · reomus · rmeous · rremous

Frequency comparison

remords#13,676
remous#19,652

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "remords" and "remous" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.mɔʁ\ versus \ʁə.mu\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "remords" or "remous"?
"remords" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,676 in our French list, against #19,652 for "remous". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering remords vs remous

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 “remords” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list