Which to use
“retain” is a verb and “retina” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,541
- “retain” frequency rank
- #17,227
- “retina” frequency rank
- 22768
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retain | retina |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Often followed by from: to hold back (someone or something); to check, to prevent, to restrain, to stop. | The thin layer of cells at the back of the eyeball that contains rods and cones sensitive to light, which trigger nerve impulses that pass via the optic nerve to the brain, where a visual image is formed. |
Where the eye mixes retain and retina
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between retain and retina
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retain is /ɹɪˈteɪn/ while retina is /ˈɹɛt.ɪ.nə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retain is recorded at frequency rank #5,541, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈteɪn/. retina is at rank #17,227, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹɛt.ɪ.nə/.
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 22768, this pair ranks #414,165 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of retain vs retina
Shared letters: aeinrt. Private to "retain": -. Private to "retina": -.
"retain" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "retina" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retain" for "retina" ever safe?
Which is more common, "retain" or "retina"?
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 "retain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retina" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #414,165 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retain" and "retina" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retina vs retinue". 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 #414,165 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.