Which to use
“regulation” and “reputation” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,781
- “regulation” frequency rank
- #3,193
- “reputation” frequency rank
- 6974
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | regulation | reputation |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of regulating or the condition of being regulated. | What somebody or something is known for. |
Where the eye mixes regulation and reputation
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. regulation and reputation follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses regulation with reputation
A purely visual mix-up. regulation (/ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/) and reputation (/ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/) 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 6974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
regulation is recorded at frequency rank #3,781, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/. reputation is at rank #3,193, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/.
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 6974, this pair ranks #509,169 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of regulation vs reputation
Shared letters: aeinortu. Private to "regulation": gl. Private to "reputation": p.
"regulation" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC · "reputation" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- regulation ← ergulation · reggulation · regluation · regualtion · regulaiton · regulasion · regulatino · regulationn
- reputation ← erputation · repputation · reptuation · repuattion · reputaiton · reputasion · reputatino · reputationn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "regulation" and "reputation" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "regulation" or "reputation"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "regulation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reputation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #509,169 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "regulation" and "reputation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repudiation vs reputation". 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 #509,169 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.