# repay vs repel

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### repay
*verb · IPA /ɹiˈpeɪ/ · frequency rank #11,953*
Synonym of pay back in all senses.

### repel
*verb · IPA /ɹɪˈpɛl/ · frequency rank #22,488*
To turn (someone) away from a privilege, right, job, etc.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/repay-vs-repel