realisedvsrepliedWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“realised” and “replied” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,290
“realised” frequency rank
#4,482
“replied” frequency rank
10772
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature realised replied
Definition simple past and past participle of realise simple past and past participle of reply

Where the eye mixes realised and replied

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
realised
7 ch
replied

Look-alike desk: realised vs replied

A purely visual mix-up. realised (/ˈɹi.ə.laɪzd/) and replied (/ɹɪˈplaɪd/) 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 10772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

realised is recorded at frequency rank #6,290, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɹi.ə.laɪzd/. replied is at rank #4,482, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈplaɪd/.

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 10772, this pair ranks #490,609 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of realised vs replied

Shared letters: deilr. Private to "realised": as. Private to "replied": p.

"realised" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC  ·  "replied" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • realisederalised · raelised · reailsed · realiesd · realisde · realisedd · realissed · reallised
  • repliederplied · relpied · repiled · repleid · replide · repliedd · repllied · repplied

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "realised" and "replied" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɹi.ə.laɪzd/ versus /ɹɪˈplaɪd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "realised" vs "replied" - which ranks higher?
"replied" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,482 in our English list, against #6,290 for "realised". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "realised" and "replied" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "realised" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "replied" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #490,609 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "realised" and "replied" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "readied vs realised". 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 #490,609 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list