Which to use
“repaid” and “repay” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,960
- “repaid” frequency rank
- #11,953
- “repay” frequency rank
- 31913
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | repaid | repay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of repay | Synonym of pay back in all senses. |
Where the eye mixes repaid and repay
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between repaid and repay
A purely visual mix-up. repaid (/ɹɪˈpeɪd/) and repay (/ɹiˈpeɪ/) 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 31913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
repaid is recorded at frequency rank #19,960, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈpeɪd/. repay is at rank #11,953, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹiˈpeɪ/.
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 31913, this pair ranks #342,152 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of repaid vs repay
Shared letters: aepr. Private to "repaid": di. Private to "repay": y.
"repaid" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "repay" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "repaid" and "repay" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "repaid" or "repay"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "repaid" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "repay" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #342,152 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "repaid" and "repay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repaid vs repaint". 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 #342,152 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.