revertvsrivetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“revert” and “rivet” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,418
“revert” frequency rank
#42,384
“rivet” frequency rank
60802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature revert rivet
Definition One who, or that which, reverts. A cylindrical mechanical fastener which is supplied with a factory head at one end and is used to attach multiple parts together by passing its bucktail through a hole and upsetting its end to form a field head.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
revert
5 ch
rivet

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. revert (/ɹɪˈvɝt/) and rivet (/ˈɹɪvət/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

revert is recorded at frequency rank #18,418, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈvɝt/. rivet is at rank #42,384, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹɪvət/.

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 60802, this pair ranks #97,976 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of revert vs rivet

Shared letters: ertv. Private to "revert": -. Private to "rivet": i.

"revert" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "rivet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • revertervert · reevrt · reverrt · revertt · revetr · revret · revvert · rrevert
  • rivetirvet · rievt · rivett · rivte · rivvet · rrivet · rviet

Frequency comparison

revert#18,418
rivet#42,384

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "revert" and "rivet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹɪˈvɝt/ versus /ˈɹɪvət/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "revert" or "rivet"?
"revert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,418 in our English list, against #42,384 for "rivet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering revert vs rivet

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “revert” 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