Re-open or reopen?
re-open is an adjective meaning “Alternative form of reopen”; reopen is a verb meaning “To open (something) again”. re-open is written with a hyphen and reopen as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between re-open and reopen?
| re-open | reopen | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective | verb |
| Meaning | Alternative form of reopen | To open (something) again To open again |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | none | reopens, reopening, reopened |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ɹiːˈəʊpən/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 2.6 times per million words |
Sources: re-open and reopen in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of re-open and reopen
re-open
- 1
Alternative form of reopen
reopen
- 1
To open (something) again
- 2
To open again
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, re-open or reopen?
re-open is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; reopen 2.6 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search re-open vs reopen?
“re-open vs reopen” is searched about 30 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“reopen vs re-open”, “re-open or reopen”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.