remotevsrewroteConfusable pair

Quick tell: remote is a adjective, rewrote is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“remote” is an adjective and “rewrote” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,581
“remote” frequency rank
#39,533
“rewrote” frequency rank
43114
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature remote rewrote
Definition At a distance; disconnected. simple past of rewrite

Where the eye mixes remote and rewrote

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
remote
7 ch
rewrote

Why the eye confuses remote with rewrote

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: remote is [ɹɪˈməʊt] while rewrote is /ɹiːˈɹəʊt/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43114, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

remote is recorded at frequency rank #3,581, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɹɪˈməʊt]. rewrote is at rank #39,533, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹiːˈɹəʊt/.

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 43114, this pair ranks #243,096 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of remote vs rewrote

Shared letters: eort. Private to "remote": m. Private to "rewrote": w.

"remote" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "rewrote" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • remoteermote · remmote · remoet · remotte · remtoe · reomte · rmeote · rremote
  • rewroteerwrote · rerwote · reworte · rewroet · rewrotte · rewrrote · rewrtoe · rewwrote

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "remote" for "rewrote" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "remote" is an adjective and "rewrote" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "remote" vs "rewrote" - which ranks higher?
"remote" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,581 in our English list, against #39,533 for "rewrote". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "remote" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rewrote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #243,096 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "remote" and "rewrote" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rewrite vs rewrote". 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 #243,096 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list