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 eye mixes repasser and repousser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. repasser runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against repousser's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses repasser with repousser
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "repasser" and "repousser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "repasser" vs "repousser" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "repasser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "repousser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #382,598 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "repasser" and "repousser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repasser vs ressasser". 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 #382,598 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.