Which to use
“recursive” and “repulsive” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,997
- “recursive” frequency rank
- #23,083
- “repulsive” frequency rank
- 56080
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recursive | repulsive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | drawing upon itself, referring back. | Tending to rouse aversion or to repulse; disgusting. |
Where the eye mixes recursive and repulsive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between recursive and repulsive
A purely visual mix-up. recursive (/ɹɪˈkɜː(ɹ)sɪv/) and repulsive (/ɹɪˈpʌlsɪv/) 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 56080, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recursive is recorded at frequency rank #32,997, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɹɪˈkɜː(ɹ)sɪv/. repulsive is at rank #23,083, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɹɪˈpʌlsɪv/.
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 56080, this pair ranks #128,862 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of recursive vs repulsive
Shared letters: eirsuv. Private to "recursive": c. Private to "repulsive": lp.
"recursive" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV · "repulsive" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "recursive" and "repulsive" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "recursive" vs "repulsive" - 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 "recursive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "repulsive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #128,862 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recursive" and "repulsive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recursion vs recursive". 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 #128,862 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.