retard vs retry, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#17,936
“retard” frequency rank: #49,014
“retry” frequency rank: 66950
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	retard	retry
Definition	A retardation; a delay.	To try or attempt again.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

retard

5 ch

retry

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retard is /ɹɪˈtɑː(ɹ)d/ while retry is /riˈtɹaɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retard is recorded at frequency rank #17,936, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈtɑː(ɹ)d/. retry is at rank #49,014, tagged as averb, pronounced /riˈtɹaɪ/.

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 66950, this pair ranks #65,620 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of retard vs retry

Shared letters: ert. Private to "retard": ad. Private to "retry": y.

"retard" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "retry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

retard ← ertard · reatrd · retadr · retardd · retarrd · retrad · rettard · rretard
retry ← ertry · rerty · retrry · retryy · rettry · retyr · rretry · rtery

Frequency comparison

retard#17,936

retry#49,014

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "retard" and "retry" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "retard" or "retry"?

"retard" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,936 in our English list, against #49,014 for "retry". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering retard vs retry

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “retard”; for a verb, it's “retry”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “retard” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable