recastvsroastWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,310
“recast” frequency rank
#8,721
“roast” frequency rank
40031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recast roast
Definition To cast or throw again. To cook food by heating in an oven or over a fire without covering, resulting in a crisp, possibly even slightly charred appearance.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
recast
5 ch
roast

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. recast (/ɹiːˈkɑːst/) and roast (/ɹoʊst/) 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 40031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recast is recorded at frequency rank #31,310, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹiːˈkɑːst/. roast is at rank #8,721, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹoʊst/.

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 40031, this pair ranks #271,297 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recast vs roast

Shared letters: arst. Private to "recast": ce. Private to "roast": o.

"recast" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "roast" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recastercast · rceast · recasst · recastt · reccast · recsat · rrecast
  • roastorast · raost · roasst · roastt · roats · rosat · rroast

Frequency comparison

recast#31,310
roast#8,721

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recast" and "roast" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹiːˈkɑːst/ versus /ɹoʊst/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "recast" or "roast"?
"roast" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,721 in our English list, against #31,310 for "recast". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering recast vs roast

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “recast” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list