Which to use
“recent” is an adjective and “repent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #977
- “recent” frequency rank
- #18,416
- “repent” frequency rank
- 19393
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recent | repent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having happened a short while ago. | To feel pain, sorrow, or regret for what one has done or omitted to do; the cause for repenting may be indicated with "of". |
Where the eye mixes recent and repent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between recent and repent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: recent is /ˈɹiː.sənt/ while repent is /ɹɪˈpɛnt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “recent” becomes p in “repent”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recent is recorded at frequency rank #977, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɹiː.sənt/. repent is at rank #18,416, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈpɛnt/.
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 19393, this pair ranks #438,492 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of recent vs repent
Shared letters: enrt. Private to "recent": c. Private to "repent": p.
"recent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "repent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "recent" for "repent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "recent" or "repent"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "recent" and "repent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "recent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "repent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #438,492 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recent" and "repent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reheat vs repent". 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 #438,492 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.