Which to use
“reach” and “react” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,233
- “reach” frequency rank
- #5,538
- “react” frequency rank
- 6771
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reach | react |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To extend, stretch, or thrust out (for example a limb or object held in the hand). | To act in response. |
Where the eye mixes reach and react
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses reach with react
A purely visual mix-up. reach (/ɹiːt͡ʃ/) and react (/ɹiːˈækt/) 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 a single letter - h in “reach” becomes t in “react”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reach is recorded at frequency rank #1,233, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹiːt͡ʃ/. react is at rank #5,538, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹiːˈækt/.
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 6771, this pair ranks #510,054 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reach vs react
Shared letters: acer. Private to "reach": h. Private to "react": t.
"reach" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "react" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "reach" and "react" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "reach" or "react"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "reach" and "react" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "react" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #510,054 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reach" and "react" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "react vs reams". 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 #510,054 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.