reverevsriversWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: revere is a verb, rivers is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#25,909
“revere” frequency rank
#4,326
“rivers” frequency rank
30235
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature revere rivers
Definition To regard someone or something with great awe or devotion. plural of river

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
revere
6 ch
rivers

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: revere is /ɹə.viːɹ/ while rivers is /ˈɹɪvɚz/. 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 30235, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

revere is recorded at frequency rank #25,909, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹə.viːɹ/. rivers is at rank #4,326, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹɪvɚz/.

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 30235, this pair ranks #356,281 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of revere vs rivers

Shared letters: erv. Private to "revere": -. Private to "rivers": is.

"revere" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "rivers" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • revereervere · reevre · reveer · reverre · revree · revvere · rrevere · rveere
  • riversirvers · rievrs · riverrs · riverss · rivesr · rivres · rivvers · rrivers

Frequency comparison

revere#25,909
rivers#4,326

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "revere" and "rivers" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "revere" is a verb and "rivers" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "revere" or "rivers"?
"rivers" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,326 in our English list, against #25,909 for "revere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering revere vs rivers

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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