Which to use
“recourse” and “resource” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,957
- “recourse” frequency rank
- #3,720
- “resource” frequency rank
- 23677
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recourse | resource |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of seeking assistance or advice. | Something that one uses to achieve an objective, e.g. raw materials or personnel. |
Where the eye mixes recourse and resource
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between recourse and resource
A purely visual mix-up. recourse (/ɹɪˈkɔːs/) and resource (/ɹɪˈzɔːs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recourse is recorded at frequency rank #19,957, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈkɔːs/. resource is at rank #3,720, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈzɔːs/.
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 23677, this pair ranks #407,556 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of recourse vs resource
Shared letters: ceorsu. Private to "recourse": -. Private to "resource": -.
"recourse" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV · "resource" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "recourse" and "resource" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "recourse" or "resource" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "recourse" and "resource" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "recourse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "resource" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #407,556 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recourse" and "resource" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recluse vs recourse". 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 #407,556 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.