retaliate
/ɹɪˈtæl.i.eɪt/
"retaliate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“retaliate” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,552 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #25,552
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm; to fight back or respond in kind to an injury or affront.
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 | retaliate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈtæl.i.eɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #25,552 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “retaliate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for retaliate is 9 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪˈtæl.i.eɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,552 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 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for retaliate, with forms such as "ertaliate", "reatliate", and "retailate". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "retaliated", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin retāliātus, past participle of retāliō (“to requite, retaliate”). The correct English form is retaliate, spelled R-E-T-A-L-I-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm; to fight back or respond in kind to an injury or affront.
- 2To repay or requite by an act of the same kind.
Etymology
From Latin retāliātus, past participle of retāliō (“to requite, retaliate”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ertaliate,reatliate,retailate,retalaite,retaliaet,retaliatte,retalitae,retalliate,retlaiate,rettaliate,rretaliate,rtealiate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of retaliate - 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
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Using “retaliate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-T-A-L-I-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹɪˈtæl.i.eɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “retaliated” - see the side-by-side comparison. retaliate vs retaliated
- 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.