repurpose
/ɹiːˈpɜː.pəs/
"repurpose" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“repurpose” is uncommon English (frequency #58,974 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,974
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To reuse for a different purpose, on a long-term basis, with or without alteration.
Corpus desk
Index EN-repurpose · repurpose · English
repurpose · rank #58,974 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #58,974
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH RER
Nearest frequency peer: RER (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “repurpose”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- reinvigorate
reinvigorate
41,030 corpus weight
- reinvigorat…
reinvigorated
41,029 corpus weight
- repurpose
repurpose
41,027 corpus weight
- RER
RER
41,026 corpus weight
- reroute
reroute
41,025 corpus weight
- reuptake
reuptake
41,023 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “repurpose” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | repurpose |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɹiːˈpɜː.pəs/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #58,974 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “repurpose” in English
Rare enough to double-check
repurpose is uncommon English at frequency #58,974 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ɹiːˈpɜː.pəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To reuse for a different purpose, on a long-term basis, with or without alteration.".
Zero misspellings are on record for repurpose in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From re- + purpose. The correct English form is repurpose, spelled R-E-P-U-R-P-O-S-E.
Definition
- 1To reuse for a different purpose, on a long-term basis, with or without alteration.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how repurpose appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The town common was repurposed as a practice field.
The church was repurposed as a nightclub by lighting changes and removing the pews, but it never opened.
Etymology
From re- + purpose.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "repurpose", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).