Which to use
“remand” and “retard” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,561
- “remand” frequency rank
- #17,936
- “retard” frequency rank
- 50497
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | remand | retard |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of sending an accused person back into custody whilst awaiting trial. | A retardation; a delay. |
Where the eye mixes remand and retard
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. remand and retard follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses remand with retard
A purely visual mix-up. remand (/ɹɪˈmɑːnd/) and retard (/ɹɪˈtɑː(ɹ)d/) 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 50497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
remand is recorded at frequency rank #32,561, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈmɑːnd/. retard is at rank #17,936, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈtɑː(ɹ)d/.
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 50497, this pair ranks #173,748 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of remand vs retard
Shared letters: ader. Private to "remand": mn. Private to "retard": t.
"remand" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "retard" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "remand" for "retard" ever safe?
Frequency check: "remand" vs "retard" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "remand" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retard" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #173,748 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "remand" and "retard" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "remand vs Riemann". 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 #173,748 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.