Which to use
“retenu” and “retenues” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,613
- “retenu” frequency rank
- #13,679
- “retenues” frequency rank
- 18292
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retenu | retenues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est circonspect, sage, modéré, réservé. | Féminin pluriel de retenu. |
Where the eye mixes retenu and retenues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses retenu with retenues
A purely visual mix-up. retenu (\ʁət.ny\) and retenues (\ʁə.tə.ny\) 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 extra letter(s) - “retenu” sits inside “retenues”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18292, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retenu is recorded at frequency rank #4,613, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁət.ny\. retenues is at rank #13,679, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.tə.ny\.
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 18292, this pair ranks #379,085 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of retenu vs retenues
Shared letters: enrtu. Private to "retenu": -. Private to "retenues": s.
"retenu" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "retenues" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "retenu" and "retenues" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "retenu" vs "retenues" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "retenu" and "retenues" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "retenu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retenues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #379,085 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retenu" and "retenues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retenons vs retenues". 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 #379,085 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.