Which to use
“repaid” and “replied” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,960
- “repaid” frequency rank
- #4,482
- “replied” frequency rank
- 24442
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | repaid | replied |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of repay | simple past and past participle of reply |
Where the eye mixes repaid and replied
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: repaid vs replied
A purely visual mix-up. repaid (/ɹɪˈpeɪd/) and replied (/ɹɪˈplaɪd/) 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 24442, 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/. replied is at rank #4,482, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈplaɪd/.
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 24442, this pair ranks #401,921 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of repaid vs replied
Shared letters: deipr. Private to "repaid": a. Private to "replied": l.
"repaid" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "replied" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "repaid" and "replied" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "repaid" or "replied" show up more?
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 "repaid" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "replied" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #401,921 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "repaid" and "replied" 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 #401,921 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.