Which to use
“reporter” and “reports” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,976
- “reporter” frequency rank
- #1,353
- “reports” frequency rank
- 5329
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reporter | reports |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Someone or something that reports. | plural of report |
Where the eye mixes reporter and reports
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between reporter and reports
A purely visual mix-up. reporter (/ɹɪˈpɔː.tə/) and reports (/ɹɪˈpɔɹts/) 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 5329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reporter is recorded at frequency rank #3,976, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈpɔː.tə/. reports is at rank #1,353, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈpɔɹts/.
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 5329, this pair ranks #515,757 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reporter vs reports
Shared letters: eoprt. Private to "reporter": -. Private to "reports": s.
"reporter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "reports" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "reporter" for "reports" ever safe?
Frequency check: "reporter" vs "reports" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "reporter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reports" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #515,757 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reporter" and "reports" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reporter vs retorted". 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 #515,757 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.