Which to use
“retrait” is a noun and “rétrécit” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,501
- “retrait” frequency rank
- #37,546
- “rétrécit” frequency rank
- 41047
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retrait | rétrécit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de retirer. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de rétrécir. |
Where the eye mixes retrait and rétrécit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. retrait runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against rétrécit's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between retrait and rétrécit
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retrait is \ʁə.tʁɛ\ while rétrécit is \ʁe.tʁe.si\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retrait is recorded at frequency rank #3,501, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.tʁɛ\. rétrécit is at rank #37,546, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.tʁe.si\.
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 41047, this pair ranks #235,939 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of retrait vs rétrécit
Shared letters: irt. Private to "retrait": ae. Private to "rétrécit": cé.
"retrait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "rétrécit" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- retrait ← ertrait · rertait · retarit · retraitt · retrati · retriat · retrrait · rettrait
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retrait" for "rétrécit" ever safe?
Frequency check: "retrait" vs "rétrécit" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "retrait" and "rétrécit" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "retrait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rétrécit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #235,939 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retrait" and "rétrécit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rétrécir vs rétrécit". 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 #235,939 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.