Which to use
“repay” and “repeat” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,953
- “repay” frequency rank
- #3,080
- “repeat” frequency rank
- 15033
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | repay | repeat |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Synonym of pay back in all senses. | To do or say again (and again). |
Where the eye mixes repay and repeat
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: repay vs repeat
A purely visual mix-up. repay (/ɹiˈpeɪ/) and repeat (/ɹɪˈpiːt/) 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 15033, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
repay is recorded at frequency rank #11,953, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹiˈpeɪ/. repeat is at rank #3,080, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈpiːt/.
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 15033, this pair ranks #466,462 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of repay vs repeat
Shared letters: aepr. Private to "repay": y. Private to "repeat": t.
"repay" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "repeat" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "repay" for "repeat" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "repay" or "repeat" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "repay" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "repeat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #466,462 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "repay" and "repeat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reedy vs repay". 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 #466,462 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.