redovsrevWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“redo” and “rev” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#22,787
“redo” frequency rank
#5,912
“rev” frequency rank
28699
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature redo rev
Definition To do again. To increase the speed of a motor, or to operate at a higher speed.

Where the eye mixes redo and rev

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
redo
3 ch
rev

Why the eye confuses redo with rev

A purely visual mix-up. redo (/ɹiˈduː/) and rev (/ɹɛv/) 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 28699, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

redo is recorded at frequency rank #22,787, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹiˈduː/. rev is at rank #5,912, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɛv/.

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 28699, this pair ranks #369,012 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of redo vs rev

Shared letters: er. Private to "redo": do. Private to "rev": v.

"redo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "rev" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • redoerdo · rdeo · reddo · reod · rredo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "redo" and "rev" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹiˈduː/ versus /ɹɛv/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "redo" or "rev"?
"rev" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,912 in our English list, against #22,787 for "redo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "redo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rev" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #369,012 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "redo" and "rev" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "redo vs reedy". 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 #369,012 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list