regalvsrevealWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: regal is a adjective, reveal is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“regal” is an adjective and “reveal” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,675
“regal” frequency rank
#3,450
“reveal” frequency rank
22125
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regal reveal
Definition Of, pertaining to, or suitable for royalty. The outer side of a window or door frame.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set regal and reveal apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
regal
6 ch
reveal

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: regal is /ˈɹiːɡəl/ while reveal is /ɹɪˈviːl/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22125, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regal is recorded at frequency rank #18,675, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɹiːɡəl/. reveal is at rank #3,450, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈviːl/.

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 22125, this pair ranks #418,894 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of regal vs reveal

Shared letters: aelr. Private to "regal": g. Private to "reveal": v.

"regal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "reveal" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regalergal · reagl · regall · reggal · regla · rgeal · rregal
  • revealerveal · reeval · revael · reveall · revela · revveal · rreveal · rveeal

Frequency comparison

regal#18,675
reveal#3,450

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "regal" and "reveal" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "regal" is an adjective and "reveal" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "regal" or "reveal"?
"reveal" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,450 in our English list, against #18,675 for "regal". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering regal vs reveal

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list