reposevsrevokeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“repose” and “revoke” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#39,529
“repose” frequency rank
#20,760
“revoke” frequency rank
60289
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature repose revoke
Definition To lay (someone, or part of their body) down to rest. To cancel or invalidate by withdrawing or reversing.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set repose and revoke apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
repose
6 ch
revoke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. repose (/ɹɪˈpəʊz/) and revoke (/ɹɪˈvoʊk/) 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 60289, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

repose is recorded at frequency rank #39,529, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈpəʊz/. revoke is at rank #20,760, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈvoʊk/.

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 60289, this pair ranks #101,025 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of repose vs revoke

Shared letters: eor. Private to "repose": ps. Private to "revoke": kv.

"repose" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "revoke" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reposeerpose · reopse · repoes · reposse · reppose · repsoe · rpeose · rrepose
  • revokeervoke · reovke · revkoe · revoek · revokke · revvoke · rrevoke · rveoke

Frequency comparison

repose#39,529
revoke#20,760

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "repose" and "revoke" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹɪˈpəʊz/ versus /ɹɪˈvoʊk/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "repose" or "revoke"?
"revoke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,760 in our English list, against #39,529 for "repose". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering repose vs revoke

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “repose” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list