Which to use
“refresh” is a verb and “regress” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,130
- “refresh” frequency rank
- #45,622
- “regress” frequency rank
- 57752
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refresh | regress |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To renew or revitalize. | The act of passing back; passage back; return; retrogression. |
Where the eye mixes refresh and regress
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: refresh vs regress
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: refresh is /ɹiˈfɹɛʃ/ while regress is /ˈɹiːˌɡɹɛs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57752, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refresh is recorded at frequency rank #12,130, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹiˈfɹɛʃ/. regress is at rank #45,622, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹiːˌɡɹɛs/.
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 57752, this pair ranks #117,236 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of refresh vs regress
Shared letters: ers. Private to "refresh": fh. Private to "regress": g.
"refresh" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "regress" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "refresh" and "regress" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "refresh" vs "regress" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "refresh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "regress" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #117,236 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refresh" and "regress" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "regress vs repress". 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 #117,236 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.