resell vs reveal, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“resell” is a verb and “reveal” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,731
“resell” frequency rank: #3,450
“reveal” frequency rank: 35181
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	resell	reveal
Definition	To sell again.	The outer side of a window or door frame.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

resell

6 ch

reveal

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: resell is /ɹiːˈsɛl/ while reveal is /ɹɪˈviːl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35181, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

resell is recorded at frequency rank #31,731, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹiːˈsɛl/. reveal is at rank #3,450, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈviːl/.

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 35181, this pair ranks #314,211 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of resell vs reveal

Shared letters: elr. Private to "resell": s. Private to "reveal": av.

"resell" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "reveal" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

resell ← ersell · reesll · resel · reslel · ressell · rresell · rseell
reveal ← erveal · reeval · revael · reveall · revela · revveal · rreveal · rveeal

Frequency comparison

resell#31,731

reveal#3,450

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "resell" and "reveal" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "resell" is a verb and "reveal" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "resell" or "reveal"?

"reveal" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,450 in our English list, against #31,731 for "resell". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering resell vs reveal

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “resell”; for a noun, it's “reveal”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “resell” entry
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