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PlainSpell

reel

/ˈɹiːl/noun, verb

reel is spelled R-E-E-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “real vs reel” about 210 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, reel means “A shaky or unsteady gait” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of reel is reels.

How many letters and syllables are in reel?

Letters4: R-E-E-L
Syllables1
In writing4.8 times per million words; the 11,541st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is reel?

Reel appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce reel?

  • /ˈɹiːl/
  • [ˈɹʷɪi̯l]

Reel has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-reel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with reel

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

real vs reel210 G

Sounds like: real (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with reel?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as reel.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: leer.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of reel

  • reels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • reeling participle, present
  • reeled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does reel mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A shaky or unsteady gait.

  2. 2

    A lively dance originating in Scotland.

  3. 3

    The music of this dance; often called a Scottish (or Scotch) reel.

  4. 4

    A kind of spool, turning on an axis, on which yarn, threads, lines, or the like, are wound.

    a log reel

  5. 5

    A device consisting of radial arms with horizontal stats, connected with a harvesting machine, for holding the stalks of grain in position to be cut by the knives.

  6. 6

    A short compilation of sample film work used as a demonstrative resume in the entertainment industry.

  7. 7

    A chronological collection of pictures or short videos published by a user on an app or website and typically only available for a short period.

verb

  1. 1

    To wind on a reel.

  2. 2

    To spin or revolve repeatedly.

  3. 3

    To unwind; to bring or acquire something by spinning or winding something else.

    He reeled off some tape from the roll and sealed the package.

  4. 4

    To walk shakily or unsteadily; to stagger; move as if drunk or not in control of oneself.

  5. 5

    To back off, step away, or sway backwards unsteadily and suddenly.

    He reeled back from the punch.

  6. 6

    To make or cause to reel.

  7. 7

    To have a whirling sensation; to be giddy.

    The high school had a send-off in my honour. It was an uncommon thing for a young man of Rajkot to go to England. I had written out a few words of thanks. But I could scarcely stammer them out. I remember how my head reeled and how my whole

  8. 8

    To be in shock.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Reel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchreel (dance, music), bobine (spool), enrouleur (machine for winding yarns), embobiner, enrouler (to wind on a reel), tituber (to walk shakily or unsteadily)
Portugueseril (dance, music), sarilho (spool), enrolar (to wind on a reel), titubear (to walk shakily or unsteadily)
GermanSpule, Trommel (spool), aufrollen (to wind on a reel), Haspel (device for a harvesting machine), Demoband (compilation of film), drehen (to spin or revolve repeatedly)
Spanishcarrete (spool), enrollar, bobinar, embobinar, devanar (to wind on a reel), reel (ril) (social media temporary publication)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does reel come from?

From Middle English reel, reele, from Old English rēol, hrēol, from Proto-West Germanic *hrehul, from Proto-Germanic *hrehulaz, *hrahilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *krek- (“to weave, beat”). Cognate with Icelandic ræl, hræll.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after reel