Which to use
“reír” and “retire” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,778
- “reír” frequency rank
- #14,947
- “retire” frequency rank
- 20725
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reír | retire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Reírse (emitir sonidos de alegría con la boca). | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de retirar o de retirarse. |
Where the eye mixes reír and retire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: reír vs retire
A purely visual mix-up. reír ([reˈiɾ]) and retire ([reˈt̪iɾe]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20725, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reír is recorded at frequency rank #5,778, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈiɾ]. retire is at rank #14,947, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈt̪iɾe].
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 20725, this pair ranks #258,076 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reír vs retire
Shared letters: er. Private to "reír": í. Private to "retire": it.
"reír" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "retire" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- retire ← ertire · reitre · retier · retirre · retrie · rettire · rretire · rteire
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "reír" and "retire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "reír" or "retire"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "reír" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #258,076 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reír" and "retire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repetiré vs retire". 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 #258,076 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.