Which to use
“redrawn” and “refrain” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,140
- “redrawn” frequency rank
- #12,486
- “refrain” frequency rank
- 58626
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | redrawn | refrain |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of redraw | To hold back, to restrain (someone or something). |
Where the eye mixes redrawn and refrain
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses redrawn with refrain
A purely visual mix-up. redrawn (/ˌɹiːˈdɹɔːn/) and refrain (/ɹɪˈfɹeɪn/) 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 58626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
redrawn is recorded at frequency rank #46,140, classified as averb, pronounced /ˌɹiːˈdɹɔːn/. refrain is at rank #12,486, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈfɹeɪn/.
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 58626, this pair ranks #111,349 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of redrawn vs refrain
Shared letters: aenr. Private to "redrawn": dw. Private to "refrain": fi.
"redrawn" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "refrain" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "redrawn" and "refrain" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "redrawn" or "refrain" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "redrawn" and "refrain" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "redrawn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "refrain" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #111,349 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "redrawn" and "refrain" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "redraw vs redrawn". 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 #111,349 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.