repousséevsrepousserWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: repoussée is a adjective, repousser is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“repoussée” is an adjective and “repousser” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,307
“repoussée” frequency rank
#7,492
“repousser” frequency rank
25799
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature repoussée repousser
Definition Féminin singulier de repoussé. 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 repoussée and repousser apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
repoussée
9 ch
repousser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: repoussée 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25799, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

repoussée is recorded at frequency rank #18,307, 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 25799, this pair ranks #338,784 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of repoussée vs repousser

Shared letters: eoprsu. Private to "repoussée": é. Private to "repousser": -.

"repoussée" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVV  ·  "repousser" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • repoussererpousser · reopusser · reposuser · repouser · repousesr · repousserr · repoussre · reppousser

Frequency comparison

repoussée#18,307
repousser#7,492

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "repoussée" and "repousser" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "repoussée" is an adjective and "repousser" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "repoussée" or "repousser"?
"repousser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,492 in our French list, against #18,307 for "repoussée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering repoussée vs repousser

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “repoussée”; for a verb, it's “repousser”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “repoussée” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list