Which to use
“repeating” and “respecting” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,088
- “repeating” frequency rank
- #13,050
- “respecting” frequency rank
- 22138
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | repeating | respecting |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of repeat | present participle and gerund of respect |
Where the eye mixes repeating and respecting
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: repeating vs respecting
A purely visual mix-up. repeating (/ɹɪˈpiːtɪŋ/) and respecting (/ɹɪˈspɛktɪŋ/) 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 22138, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
repeating is recorded at frequency rank #9,088, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈpiːtɪŋ/. respecting is at rank #13,050, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈspɛktɪŋ/.
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 22138, this pair ranks #418,783 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of repeating vs respecting
Shared letters: eginprt. Private to "repeating": a. Private to "respecting": cs.
"repeating" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVCC · "respecting" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- repeating ← erpeating · reepating · repaeting · repeaitng · repeatign · repeatingg · repeatinng · repeatnig
- respecting ← erspecting · repsecting · resepcting · respceting · respeccting · respecitng · respectign · respectingg
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "repeating" and "respecting" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "repeating" vs "respecting" - 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 "repeating" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "respecting" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,783 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "repeating" and "respecting" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repeating vs rereading". 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 #418,783 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.