repoussésvsroussesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#27,942
“repoussés” frequency rank
#29,954
“rousses” frequency rank
57896
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature repoussés rousses
Definition Masculin pluriel de repoussé. Féminin pluriel de roux.

Where the eye mixes repoussés and rousses

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

9 ch
repoussés
7 ch
rousses

Why the eye confuses repoussés with rousses

A purely visual mix-up. repoussés (\ʁə.pu.se\) and rousses (\ʁus\) 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 57896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

repoussés is recorded at frequency rank #27,942, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.pu.se\. rousses is at rank #29,954, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁus\.

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 57896, this pair ranks #112,287 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of repoussés vs rousses

Shared letters: eorsu. Private to "repoussés": . Private to "rousses": -.

"repoussés" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC  ·  "rousses" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • roussesorusses · rosuses · rousess · roussess · roussse · rrousses · ruosses

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "repoussés" and "rousses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.pu.se\ versus \ʁus\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "repoussés" vs "rousses" - which ranks higher?
"repoussés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,942 in our French list, against #29,954 for "rousses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "repoussés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rousses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #112,287 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "repoussés" and "rousses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rousseff vs rousses". 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 #112,287 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list