ravel vs reveal, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ravel” is a verb and “reveal” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,333
“ravel” frequency rank: #3,450
“reveal” frequency rank: 44783
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ravel	reveal
Definition	To entwine or tangle (something) confusedly; to entangle.	The outer side of a window or door frame.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ravel and reveal apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

ravel

6 ch

reveal

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ravel is /ˈɹævəl/ while reveal is /ɹɪˈviːl/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ravel is recorded at frequency rank #41,333, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɹævəl/. reveal is at rank #3,450, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈviːl/.

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 44783, this pair ranks #227,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ravel vs reveal

Shared letters: aelrv. Private to "ravel": -. Private to "reveal": -.

"ravel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "reveal" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

ravel ← arvel · raevl · ravell · ravle · ravvel · rravel · rvael
reveal ← erveal · reeval · revael · reveall · revela · revveal · rreveal · rveeal

Frequency comparison

ravel#41,333

reveal#3,450

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ravel" and "reveal" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ravel" is a verb and "reveal" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ravel" or "reveal"?

"reveal" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,450 in our English list, against #41,333 for "ravel". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ravel vs reveal

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “ravel”; for a noun, it's “reveal”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ravel” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable