regresevsreírseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“regrese” and “reírse” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,208
“regrese” frequency rank
#14,951
“reírse” frequency rank
25159
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature regrese reírse
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de regresar o de regresarse. Mostrar alegría con movimientos de la boca y de la cara emitiendo sonidos no articulados.

Where the eye mixes regrese and reírse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. regrese runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against reírse's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
regrese
6 ch
reírse

Visual trap between regrese and reírse

A purely visual mix-up. regrese ([reˈɣ̞ɾese]) and reírse ([reˈiɾse]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25159, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regrese is recorded at frequency rank #10,208, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈɣ̞ɾese]. reírse is at rank #14,951, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈiɾse].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 25159, this pair ranks #237,721 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of regrese vs reírse

Shared letters: ers. Private to "regrese": g. Private to "reírse": í.

"regrese" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "reírse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • regrese ← ergrese · regerse · reggrese · regrece · regrees · regresse · regrrese · regrsee

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "regrese" and "reírse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([reˈɣ̞ɾese] versus [reˈiɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "regrese" or "reírse" show up more?
"regrese" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,208 in our Spanish list, against #14,951 for "reírse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "regrese" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reírse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #237,721 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "regrese" and "reírse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Reese vs reírse". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #237,721 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list