repasser vs repousser, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#10,061
“repasser” frequency rank: #7,492
“repousser” frequency rank: 17553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	repasser	repousser
Definition	Passer de nouveau.	Pousser en arrière, rejeter ; faire reculer quelqu’un, écarter de soi quelque chose.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set repasser and repousser apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

repasser

9 ch

repousser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. repasser (\ʁə.pɑ.se\) and repousser (\ʁə.pu.se\) 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 17553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

repasser is recorded at frequency rank #10,061, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.pɑ.se\. repousser is at rank #7,492, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.pu.se\.

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 17553, this pair ranks #382,598 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of repasser vs repousser

Shared letters: eprs. Private to "repasser": a. Private to "repousser": ou.

"repasser" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "repousser" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

repasser ← erpasser · reapsser · repaser · repasesr · repasserr · repassre · reppasser · repsaser
repousser ← erpousser · reopusser · reposuser · repouser · repousesr · repousserr · repoussre · reppousser

Frequency comparison

repasser#10,061

repousser#7,492

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "repasser" and "repousser" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\ʁə.pɑ.se\ versus \ʁə.pu.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "repasser" or "repousser"?

"repousser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,492 in our French list, against #10,061 for "repasser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering repasser vs repousser

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