Which to use
“reached” and “reared” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,495
- “reached” frequency rank
- #26,572
- “reared” frequency rank
- 28067
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reached | reared |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of reach | simple past and past participle of rear |
Where the eye mixes reached and reared
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses reached with reared
A purely visual mix-up. reached (/ɹiːt͡ʃt/) and reared (/ɹɪɹd/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reached is recorded at frequency rank #1,495, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹiːt͡ʃt/. reared is at rank #26,572, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪɹd/.
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 28067, this pair ranks #374,000 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of reached vs reared
Shared letters: ader. Private to "reached": ch. Private to "reared": -.
"reached" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "reared" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "reached" for "reared" ever safe?
Frequency check: "reached" vs "reared" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "reached" and "reared" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reached" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reared" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #374,000 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reached" and "reared" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "readied vs reared". 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 #374,000 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.