reírmevsretireWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,633
“reírme” frequency rank
#14,947
“retire” frequency rank
39580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reírme retire
Definition Reír, con el enclítico me (pronombre). Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de retirar o de retirarse.

Where the eye mixes reírme and retire

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. reírme (CVVCCV) and retire (CVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
reírme
6 ch
retire

Visual trap between reírme and retire

A purely visual mix-up. reírme ([reˈiɾme]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reírme is recorded at frequency rank #24,633, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈiɾme]. 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 39580, this pair ranks #163,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of reírme vs retire

Shared letters: er. Private to "reírme": mí. Private to "retire": it.

"reírme" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "retire" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retire ← ertire · reitre · retier · retirre · retrie · rettire · rretire · rteire

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "reírme" and "retire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([reˈiɾme] versus [reˈt̪iɾe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "reírme" vs "retire" - which ranks higher?
"retire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,947 in our Spanish list, against #24,633 for "reírme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "reírme" 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 #163,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reírme" and "retire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reine vs reírme". 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 #163,755 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