rethink
/ɹiːˈθɪŋk/
"rethink" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rethink” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,692 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #15,692
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To think again about something, with the intention of changing or replacing it.
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 | rethink |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɹiːˈθɪŋk/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #15,692 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “rethink” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for rethink is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹiːˈθɪŋk/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,692 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To think again about something, with the intention of changing or replacing it.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for rethink, with forms such as "erthink", "rehtink", and "rethhink". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "retina", "retain", "retains", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From re- + think. The correct English form is rethink, spelled R-E-T-H-I-N-K.
Definition
- 1To think again about something, with the intention of changing or replacing it.
Etymology
From re- + think.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: erthink,rehtink,rethhink,rethikn,rethinkk,rethinnk,rethnik,retihnk,retthink,rrethink,rtehink
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of rethink - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “rethink”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-T-H-I-N-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹiːˈθɪŋk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “retina” - see the side-by-side comparison. rethink vs retina
- 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.