revivevsrevokeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,596
“revive” frequency rank
#20,760
“revoke” frequency rank
32356
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature revive revoke
Definition To cause (a person or animal) to recover from a faint; to cause (a person or animal) to return to a state of consciousness. To cancel or invalidate by withdrawing or reversing.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
revive
6 ch
revoke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. revive (/ɹɪˈvaɪv/) and revoke (/ɹɪˈvoʊk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

revive is recorded at frequency rank #11,596, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈvaɪv/. revoke is at rank #20,760, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈvoʊk/.

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 32356, this pair ranks #338,463 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of revive vs revoke

Shared letters: erv. Private to "revive": i. Private to "revoke": ko.

"revive" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "revoke" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reviveervive · reivve · reviev · revivve · revvie · revvive · rrevive · rveive
  • revokeervoke · reovke · revkoe · revoek · revokke · revvoke · rrevoke · rveoke

Frequency comparison

revive#11,596
revoke#20,760

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "revive" and "revoke" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹɪˈvaɪv/ versus /ɹɪˈvoʊk/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "revive" or "revoke"?
"revive" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,596 in our English list, against #20,760 for "revoke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering revive vs revoke

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 “revive” 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