Which to use
“repaired” and “required” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,119
- “repaired” frequency rank
- #1,027
- “required” frequency rank
- 11146
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | repaired | required |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of repair | simple past and past participle of require |
Where the eye mixes repaired and required
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between repaired and required
A purely visual mix-up. repaired (/ɹɪˈpɛɹd/) and required (/ɹɪˈkwaɪɹd/) 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 11146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
repaired is recorded at frequency rank #10,119, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈpɛɹd/. required is at rank #1,027, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈkwaɪɹd/.
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 11146, this pair ranks #488,658 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of repaired vs required
Shared letters: deir. Private to "repaired": ap. Private to "required": qu.
"repaired" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "required" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "repaired" and "required" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "repaired" vs "required" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "repaired" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "required" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #488,658 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "repaired" and "required" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reared vs repaired". 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 #488,658 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.