Which to use
“recoup” and “recur” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,807
- “recoup” frequency rank
- #44,442
- “recur” frequency rank
- 74249
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recoup | recur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make back (an investment or similar). | Of an event, situation, etc.: to appear or happen again, especially repeatedly. |
Where the eye mixes recoup and recur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. recoup runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against recur's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses recoup with recur
A purely visual mix-up. recoup (/ɹɪˈkuːp/) and recur (/ɹɪˈkɜː/) 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 74249, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recoup is recorded at frequency rank #29,807, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈkuːp/. recur is at rank #44,442, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈkɜː/.
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 74249, this pair ranks #36,941 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of recoup vs recur
Shared letters: ceru. Private to "recoup": op. Private to "recur": -.
"recoup" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "recur" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "recoup" and "recur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "recoup" vs "recur" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "recoup" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #36,941 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recoup" and "recur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rebar 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 #36,941 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.