reject vs reset, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“reject” and “reset” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,829
“reject” frequency rank: #9,246
“reset” frequency rank: 16075
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	reject	reset
Definition	To refuse to accept; to forswear.	To set back to the initial state.

Where the eye mixes reject and reset

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch

reject

5 ch

reset

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. reject (/ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkt/) and reset (/ɹiːˈsɛt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16075, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reject is recorded at frequency rank #6,829, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkt/. reset is at rank #9,246, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹiːˈsɛt/.

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 16075, this pair ranks #460,075 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reject vs reset

Shared letters: ert. Private to "reject": cj. Private to "reset": s.

"reject" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "reset" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

reject ← erject · reejct · rejcet · rejecct · rejectt · rejetc · rejject · rjeect
reset ← erset · reest · resett · resset · reste · rreset · rseet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reject" and "reset" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkt/ versus /ɹiːˈsɛt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "reject" or "reset"?

"reject" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,829 in our English list, against #9,246 for "reset". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "reject" and "reset". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "reject" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "reset" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #460,075 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"reject" and "reset" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Renée vs reset". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.