reporter

/ɹɪˈpɔː.tə/

//ɹɪˈpɔː.tə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"reporter" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“reporter” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,976. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,976
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Someone or something that reports.

Corpus desk

Index EN-reporter · reporter · English

reporter · rank #3,976 · 12 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,976
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH rep

Nearest frequency peer: rep (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “reporter”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “reporter” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

reporter vs reports
75% similar
reporter vs resorted
75% similar
reporter vs retorted
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for reporter
PropertyValue
Headwordreporter
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹɪˈpɔː.tə/
Letters8
Frequency rank#3,976
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “reporter”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).reporterlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “rep” (#3,975), “Rio” (#3,977), “removal” (#3,974). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “reporter” is #3,976. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around reporter (IPA /ɹɪˈpɔː.tə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,976 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for reporter, with forms such as "erporter", "reoprter", and "reporetr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "reports", "resorted", "retorted", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English reportour, from Old French reporteur; equivalent to report + -er. The correct English form is reporter, spelled R-E-P-O-R-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Someone or something that reports.
  2. 2
    A journalist who investigates, edits and reports news stories for newspapers, radio and television.
  3. 3
    A person who records and issues official reports of judicial or legislative proceedings.
  4. 4
    A case reporter; a bound volume of printed legal opinions from a particular jurisdiction.
  5. 5
    A gene attached by a researcher to a regulatory sequence of another gene of interest, typically used as an indication of whether a certain gene has been taken up by or expressed in the cell or organism population.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how reporter appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The reporters of important security bugs may be paid a bounty by the software developer.

Etymology

From Middle English reportour, from Old French reporteur; equivalent to report + -er.

This word in other languages

reportero(Español)reporter(Français)Reporter(Deutsch)jornalista(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • erporter
  • reoprter
  • reporetr
  • reporrter
  • reporterr
  • reportre
  • reportter
  • repotrer
  • repporter
  • reproter
  • rpeorter
  • rreporter

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of reporter - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

erporter2reoprter2reporetr2reporrter1reporterr1reportre2reportter1repotrer2
Edit distance from "reporter"

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

How do you spell "reporter"?
"reporter" is spelled R-E-P-O-R-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹɪˈpɔː.tə/.
What does "reporter" mean?
As a noun, "reporter" means: Someone or something that reports.
What words are commonly confused with "reporter"?
"reporter" is commonly confused with "reports", "resorted", "retorted". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "reporter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "reporter" is /ɹɪˈpɔː.tə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "reporter"?
From Middle English reportour, from Old French reporteur; equivalent to report + -er. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "reporter", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sequence#3,982operated#3,965indicate#3,952grateful#3,947

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

preferred12 variantsstretch12 variantsterrorist12 variantsdelicious12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list