Which to use
“retenir” and “revêtir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,565
- “retenir” frequency rank
- #26,854
- “revêtir” frequency rank
- 30419
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retenir | revêtir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Garder par-devers soi ce qui est à un autre. | Pourvoir de vêtements quelqu’un qui en a besoin. |
Where the eye mixes retenir and revêtir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. retenir and revêtir follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between retenir and revêtir
A purely visual mix-up. retenir (\ʁət.niʁ\) and revêtir (\ʁə.ve.tiʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retenir is recorded at frequency rank #3,565, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁət.niʁ\. revêtir is at rank #26,854, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ve.tiʁ\.
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 30419, this pair ranks #310,455 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of retenir vs revêtir
Shared letters: eirt. Private to "retenir": n. Private to "revêtir": vê.
"retenir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "revêtir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retenir ← ertenir · reetnir · reteinr · retenirr · retennir · retenri · retneir · rettenir
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "retenir" and "revêtir" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "retenir" or "revêtir"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "retenir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "revêtir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #310,455 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retenir" and "revêtir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "revêtir vs revêtue". 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 #310,455 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.