Which to use
“reopen” and “repent” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,786
- “reopen” frequency rank
- #18,416
- “repent” frequency rank
- 35202
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reopen | repent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To open (something) again. | To feel pain, sorrow, or regret for what one has done or omitted to do; the cause for repenting may be indicated with "of". |
Where the eye mixes reopen and repent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses reopen with repent
A purely visual mix-up. reopen (/ɹiːˈəʊpən/) and repent (/ɹɪˈpɛnt/) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35202, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reopen is recorded at frequency rank #16,786, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹiːˈəʊpən/. repent is at rank #18,416, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈpɛnt/.
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 35202, this pair ranks #314,022 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of reopen vs repent
Shared letters: enpr. Private to "reopen": o. Private to "repent": t.
"reopen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "repent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "reopen" and "repent" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "reopen" vs "repent" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "reopen" and "repent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reopen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "repent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,022 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reopen" and "repent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reheat vs repent". 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 #314,022 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.