reposervsrepousserWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,393
“reposer” frequency rank
#7,492
“repousser” frequency rank
12885
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reposer repousser
Definition Poser de nouveau ; poser une chose à l’endroit où on l’avait prise. 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 reposer and repousser apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
reposer
9 ch
repousser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. reposer (\ʁə.po.ze\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reposer is recorded at frequency rank #5,393, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.po.ze\. 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 12885, this pair ranks #403,342 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reposer vs repousser

Shared letters: eoprs. Private to "reposer": -. Private to "repousser": u.

"reposer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "repousser" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reposererposer · reopser · repoesr · reposerr · reposre · reposser · repposer · repsoer
  • repoussererpousser · reopusser · reposuser · repouser · repousesr · repousserr · repoussre · reppousser

Frequency comparison

reposer#5,393
repousser#7,492

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reposer" and "repousser" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.po.ze\ versus \ʁə.pu.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "reposer" or "repousser"?
"reposer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,393 in our French list, against #7,492 for "repousser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering reposer 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 “reposer” 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