Which to use
“Reilly” is a name and “reply” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,938
- “Reilly” frequency rank
- #3,020
- “reply” frequency rank
- 21958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Reilly | reply |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A surname from Irish. | To give a written or spoken response, especially to a question, request, accusation or criticism; to answer. |
Where the eye mixes Reilly and reply
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Reilly vs reply
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Reilly is /ˈɹaɪli/ while reply is /ɹɪˈplaɪ/. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Reilly is recorded at frequency rank #18,938, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈɹaɪli/. reply is at rank #3,020, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈplaɪ/.
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 21958, this pair ranks #420,112 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Reilly vs reply
Shared letters: elry. Private to "Reilly": i. Private to "reply": p.
"Reilly" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "reply" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Reilly" and "reply" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "Reilly" or "reply" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Reilly" and "reply" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Reilly" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reply" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #420,112 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Reilly" and "reply" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reedy vs reply". 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 #420,112 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.