Which to use
“released” and “repealed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #954
- “released” frequency rank
- #18,176
- “repealed” frequency rank
- 19130
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | released | repealed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of release | simple past and past participle of repeal |
Where the eye mixes released and repealed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between released and repealed
A purely visual mix-up. released (/ɹɪˈliːst/) and repealed (/ɹəˈpild/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one.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 19130, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
released is recorded at frequency rank #954, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈliːst/. repealed is at rank #18,176, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹəˈpild/.
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 19130, this pair ranks #440,299 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of released vs repealed
Shared letters: adelr. Private to "released": s. Private to "repealed": p.
"released" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "repealed" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "released" for "repealed" ever safe?
Which is more common, "released" or "repealed"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "released" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "repealed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #440,299 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "released" and "repealed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repealed vs repeater". 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 #440,299 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.