Which to use
“recon” and “recount” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,327
- “recon” frequency rank
- #21,328
- “recount” frequency rank
- 42655
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recon | recount |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | reconnaissance. | Narration, account, description, rendering |
Where the eye mixes recon and recount
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. recon runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against recount's 7 (CVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses recon with recount
A purely visual mix-up. recon (/ɹɪˈkɒn/) and recount (/ɹɪˈkaʊnt/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recon is recorded at frequency rank #21,327, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈkɒn/. recount is at rank #21,328, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈkaʊnt/.
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 42655, this pair ranks #247,269 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recon vs recount
Shared letters: cenor. Private to "recon": -. Private to "recount": tu.
"recon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "recount" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "recon" and "recount" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "recon" or "recount"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "recon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recount" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,269 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recon" and "recount" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recon vs recur". 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 #247,269 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.