reefer vs refer, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“reefer” is a noun and “refer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,875
“reefer” frequency rank: #3,330
“refer” frequency rank: 47205
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	reefer	refer
Definition	Someone who reefs sails, especially a midshipman.	To direct the attention of (someone toward something)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set reefer and refer apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

reefer

5 ch

refer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reefer is /ˈɹiːfɚ/ while refer is /ɹɪˈfɜː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reefer is recorded at frequency rank #43,875, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹiːfɚ/. refer is at rank #3,330, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈfɜː/.

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 47205, this pair ranks #204,584 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of reefer vs refer

Shared letters: efr. Private to "reefer": -. Private to "refer": -.

"reefer" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "refer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

reefer ← erefer · reeefr · reeferr · reeffer · reefre · refeer · rreefer
refer ← erfer · reefr · referr · reffer · refre · rfeer · rrefer

Frequency comparison

reefer#43,875

refer#3,330

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reefer" and "refer" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reefer" is a noun and "refer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "reefer" or "refer"?

"refer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,330 in our English list, against #43,875 for "reefer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering reefer vs refer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “reefer”; for a verb, it's “refer”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “reefer” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable