Which to use
“repoussé” is an adjective and “repousser” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,289
- “repoussé” frequency rank
- #7,492
- “repousser” frequency rank
- 18781
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | repoussé | repousser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qualifie la matière en plaque (cuir ou métal), que l’on a décoré en le travaillant à l’envers, au marteau ou avec des instruments spéciaux. | Pousser en arrière, rejeter ; faire reculer quelqu’un, écarter de soi quelque chose. |
Same sound, different letters: repoussé vs repousser
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters.
Homophone desk: repoussé vs repousser
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: repoussé and repousser carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʁə.pu.se\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
repoussé is recorded at frequency rank #11,289, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.pu.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 18781, this pair ranks #376,609 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of repoussé vs repousser
Shared letters: eoprsu. Private to "repoussé": é. Private to "repousser": -.
"repoussé" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV · "repousser" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- repousser ← erpousser · reopusser · reposuser · repouser · repousesr · repousserr · repoussre · reppousser
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "repoussé" and "repousser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "repoussé" or "repousser"?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "repoussé" / "repousser". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "repoussé" 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 #376,609 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "repoussé" and "repousser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repoussé vs repoussées". 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 #376,609 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.