Which to use
“ruer” and “ruiner” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,989
- “ruer” frequency rank
- #10,938
- “ruiner” frequency rank
- 50927
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ruer | ruiner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Jeter ou lancer vivement. | Détruire, transformer en ruine, abattre. |
Where the eye mixes ruer and ruiner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ruer runs 4 letters (CVVC) against ruiner's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ruer and ruiner
A purely visual mix-up. ruer (\ʁɥe\) and ruiner (\ʁɥi.ne\) 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 50927, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ruer is recorded at frequency rank #39,989, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁɥe\. ruiner is at rank #10,938, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁɥi.ne\.
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 50927, this pair ranks #158,862 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ruer vs ruiner
Shared letters: eru. Private to "ruer": -. Private to "ruiner": in.
"ruer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "ruiner" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ruer" for "ruiner" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ruer" vs "ruiner" - which ranks higher?
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 "ruer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ruiner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #158,862 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ruer" and "ruiner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rouet vs ruer". 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 #158,862 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.