Which to use
“recursion” and “repulsion” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,443
- “recursion” frequency rank
- #46,733
- “repulsion” frequency rank
- 91176
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recursion | repulsion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of recurring. | The act of repelling or the condition of being repelled. |
Where the eye mixes recursion and repulsion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses recursion with repulsion
A purely visual mix-up. recursion (/ɹɪˈkɜː(ɹ)ʒən/) and repulsion (/ɹɪˈpʌlʃən/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recursion is recorded at frequency rank #44,443, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈkɜː(ɹ)ʒən/. repulsion is at rank #46,733, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈpʌlʃən/.
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 91176, this pair ranks #3,502 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of recursion vs repulsion
Shared letters: einorsu. Private to "recursion": c. Private to "repulsion": lp.
"recursion" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "repulsion" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "recursion" and "repulsion" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "recursion" vs "repulsion" - which ranks higher?
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 "recursion" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "repulsion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,502 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recursion" and "repulsion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recursion vs reversion". 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 #3,502 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.