Which to use
“retaking” is a noun and “retiring” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,592
- “retaking” frequency rank
- #9,660
- “retiring” frequency rank
- 59252
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | retaking | retiring |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of taking again. | introverted, liking privacy and seclusion. |
Letter map: retaking vs retiring
Shared letters muted; letters that set retaking and retiring apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Part-of-speech tell for retaking / retiring
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: retaking is anoun and retiringanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59252, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
retaking is recorded at frequency rank #49,592, classified as anoun. retiring is at rank #9,660, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɹəˈtaɪ(ə)ɹɪŋ/.
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 59252, this pair ranks #107,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of retaking vs retiring
Shared letters: eginrt. Private to "retaking": ak. Private to "retiring": -.
"retaking" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "retiring" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "retaking" for "retiring" ever safe?
Which is more common, "retaking" or "retiring"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "retaking" and "retiring".
- Full dictionary entry for "retaking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retiring" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #107,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "retaking" and "retiring" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retaking vs revoking". 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 #107,374 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.