retell
/ɹiˈtɛl/
"retell" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“retell” is uncommon English (frequency #71,847 among 21,470 “R” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #71,847
- frequency rank, English
- 21,470
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To tell again, often differently, what one has read or heard; to paraphrase.
Corpus desk
Index EN-retell · retell · English
retell · rank #71,847 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #71,847
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 21,470
- PHOTO-FINISH restlessly
Nearest frequency peer: restlessly (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “retell”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- reincarnate
reincarnate
28,159 corpus weight
- restlessly
restlessly
28,155 corpus weight
- retell
retell
28,154 corpus weight
- revitalise
revitalise
28,152 corpus weight
- Revoir
Revoir
28,151 corpus weight
- RhD
RhD
28,150 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “retell” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | retell |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɹiˈtɛl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #71,847 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “retell” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
retell is uncommon English at frequency #71,847 among 21,470 “R” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ɹiˈtɛl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To tell again, often differently, what one has read or heard; to paraphrase.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for retell, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From re- + tell. The correct English form is retell, spelled R-E-T-E-L-L.
Definition
- 1To tell again, often differently, what one has read or heard; to paraphrase.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how retell appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
She will retell the story from her perspective in the next meeting.
He had to retell the story several times before it was understood.
Etymology
From re- + tell.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "retell", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
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.