repress
/ɹəˈpɹɛs/
"repress" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“repress” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #36,313 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #36,313
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To forcefully prevent an upheaval from developing further.
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 | repress |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɹəˈpɹɛs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #36,313 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “repress” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for repress is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹəˈpɹɛs/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,313 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for repress, with forms such as "erpress", "reperss", and "reppress". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "reprise", "repressed", "recess", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Ultimately from Latin repressus, the perfect passive participle of reprimō (“I repress”). The correct English form is repress, spelled R-E-P-R-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1To forcefully prevent an upheaval from developing further.
- 2To check; to keep back.
Etymology
Ultimately from Latin repressus, the perfect passive participle of reprimō (“I repress”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: erpress,reperss,reppress,repres,reprress,reprses,rerpess,rperess,rrepress
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of repress - 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.
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 "repress"?
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Using “repress”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-P-R-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹəˈpɹɛs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “reprise” - see the side-by-side comparison. repress vs reprise
- 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.