react
/ɹiːˈækt/
"react" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“react” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,538 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #5,538
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To act in response.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | react |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɹiːˈækt/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #5,538 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “react” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for react is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹiːˈækt/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,538 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for react, with forms such as "eract", "raect", and "reacct". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "rec", "ret", "real", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From re- + act. Piecewise doublet of redact. The correct English form is react, spelled R-E-A-C-T.
Definition
- 1To act in response.
- 2To act or perform a second time; to do over again; to reenact.
- 3To return an impulse or impression; to resist the action of another body by an opposite force
- 4To act upon each other; to exercise a reciprocal or a reverse effect, as two or more chemical agents; to act in opposition.
- 5To cause chemical agents to react; to cause one chemical agent to react with another.
- 6To post a reaction (icon or emoji indicating how one feels about a posted message).
Etymology
From re- + act. Piecewise doublet of redact.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eract,raect,reacct,reactt,reatc,recat,rreact
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of react - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “react”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-A-C-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹiːˈækt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “rec” - see the side-by-side comparison. react vs rec
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.