reply

re·ply
R1E1P3L1Y4
/ɹɪˈplaɪ/

verb

To give a written or spoken response, especially to a question, request, accusation or criticism; to answer.

“(intransitive) Please reply to my letter.”

Similar
respondanswer backreactrejoincounterrevertfollow upget back to
OriginMiddle English replyen ← Old French replier ← Latin replicō, replicāre →
Very commonScrabble 10
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbreply (third-person singular simple present replies, present participle replying, simple past and past participle replied)

present singular third person replies · participle present replying · participle past replied · past replied

  1. intransitivetransitiveTo give a written or spoken response, especially to a question, request, accusation or criticism; to answer.

    (intransitive) Please reply to my letter.

    3 more examples

    When an East Coast industrialist who wanted [Willis] Polk to design a building told the architect that he admired his work, Polk replied, “I would feel complimented if I thought you knew anything about art.”

    2021 March 19, Gary Kamiya, “One of San Francisco’s strangest buildings was a mash-up masterpiece”, in San Francisco Chronicle, archived from the original on 27 Apr 2026

    (transitive) "Sorry I'm late," replied the student.

    (transitive) He replied that he was not sure.

  2. intransitiveTo act or gesture in response.

    Joanne replied to Pete's insult with a slap to his face.

    2 more examples

    It is a sound to be dreaded until you ascertain that it is being made by friendly forces; even then, your welcome to it must be tempered with some caution, because gunfire usually leads to replying gunfire[…]

    1988, Emmanuel Doe Ziorklui, Ghana: Nkrumah to Rawlings

    […] bulged the onion bag for the Blades, and Downes and Prendergast replied for the Owls.

    2012, Steve Cowens, Steel City Rivals
  3. intransitiveTo repeat something back; to echo.
nounreply (plural replies)

plural replies

  1. A written or spoken response; part of a conversation.

    For example, it is said that someone at a party once asked the famous philosopher Ly Tin Weedle ‘Why are you here?’ And the reply took three years.

    1986, Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic, published 2022, page 12
  2. Something given in reply.
  3. A counterattack.
  4. entertainmentThe answer of a figure.
  5. USlawA document written by a party specifically replying to a responsive declaration and in some cases an answer.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
respondanswer backreactrejoincounterrevertfollow upget back toanswerretortreturn
Similar
answerretortreturncomebackresponseaccountrejoinderripostereactionrebuttal

nouna statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation

Similar
answerresponse
Broader
statement

nounthe speech act of continuing a conversational exchange

Similar
response
Broader
speech act

verbreact verbally

Similar
answerrespond
Broader
statesaytell
Also see
answerrespondresponse

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinreplicō, replicāre“to fold back”
  2. Old Frenchreplier“to reply”
  3. Middle Englishreplyen
  4. Englishreply

From Middle English replyen, replien, borrowed from Old French replier (“to reply”), from the Latin replicō, replicāre (“to fold back”) (in Late or Medieval Latin "to reply, repeat"), from re + plicō (“to fold”); the noun derives from the verb by nominalisation. Doublet of replicate and replica.

More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἀποκρίνομαι, ὑπόκρισις
  • ἀποκρίνομαι (apokrínomai)to give a written or spoken response
  • ὑπόκρισις (hupókrisis)written or spoken response
Arabic أَجَابَ, رَدَّ
  • أَجَابَ (ʔajāba)to give a written or spoken response
  • رَدَّ (radda)to give a written or spoken response
  • إِجَابَة (ʔijāba)written or spoken response
  • جَوَاب (jawāb)written or spoken response
  • رَدّ (radd)written or spoken response
Bengali জবাব দেওয়া, উত্তর দেওয়া
  • জবাব দেওয়া (jobab deōẇa)to give a written or spoken response
  • উত্তর দেওয়া (uttor deōẇa)to give a written or spoken response
  • জবাব (jobab)written or spoken response
  • উত্তর (uttor)written or spoken response
Bulgarian отгова́рям, отвръщам
  • отгова́рям (otgovárjam)to give a written or spoken response
  • отвръщам (otvrăštam)to act or gesture in response
  • о́тговор (ótgovor)written or spoken response
Catalan respondre, resposta
  • respondreto give a written or spoken response
  • respostawritten or spoken response
Chinese Cantonese 回答
  • 回答 (wui⁴ daap³)written or spoken response
Chinese Mandarin 回答, 答應 /答应
  • 回答 (huídá)to give a written or spoken response
  • 答應 /答应 (dāying)to give a written or spoken response
  • 答覆 (dáfù)to give a written or spoken response
  • 回答 (huídá)written or spoken response
Czech odpovědět, odepsat
  • odpovědětto give a written or spoken response
  • odepsatto give a written or spoken response
  • odpověďwritten or spoken response
Danish svare, besvare
  • svareto give a written or spoken response
  • besvareto give a written or spoken response
  • svareto act or gesture in response
  • genmæleto act or gesture in response
  • svarwritten or spoken response
  • besvarelsewritten or spoken response
  • svarsomething given in reply
Dutch antwoorden, beantwoorden
  • antwoordento give a written or spoken response
  • beantwoordento give a written or spoken response
  • beantwoordento act or gesture in response
  • antwoordwritten or spoken response
  • responswritten or spoken response
Esperanto respondi, respondo
  • respondito give a written or spoken response
  • respondowritten or spoken response
Estonian vastus
  • vastuswritten or spoken response
Finnish vastata, vastata
  • vastatato give a written or spoken response
  • vastatato act or gesture in response
  • palauttaato repeat something back
  • vastauswritten or spoken response
  • vastaussomething given in reply
French répondre, réponse
  • répondreto give a written or spoken response
  • réponsewritten or spoken response
  • réponsesomething given in reply
German antworten, erwidern
  • antwortento give a written or spoken response
  • erwidernto give a written or spoken response
  • Antwortwritten or spoken response
  • Entgegnungwritten or spoken response
  • Antwortsomething given in reply
Greek απαντώ, απάντηση
  • απαντώ (apantó)to give a written or spoken response
  • απάντηση (apántisi)written or spoken response
Hebrew תְּשׁוּבָה, תְּגוּבָה
  • תְּשׁוּבָה (t'shuvá)written or spoken response
  • תְּגוּבָה (t’goovah / tehgoovah)written or spoken response
Hindi जवाब, जवाब देना
  • जवाब (javāb)to give a written or spoken response
  • जवाब देना (javāb denā)to give a written or spoken response
  • उत्तर देना (uttar denā)to give a written or spoken response
  • जवाब (javāb)written or spoken response
  • उत्तर (uttar)written or spoken response
Hungarian felel, válaszol
  • felelto give a written or spoken response
  • válaszolto give a written or spoken response
  • válaszwritten or spoken response
  • feleletwritten or spoken response
Indonesian jawab
  • jawabto give a written or spoken response
Irish freagair, freagairt
  • freagairto give a written or spoken response
  • freagairtwritten or spoken response
Italian rispondere, replicare
  • rispondereto give a written or spoken response
  • replicareto give a written or spoken response
  • ripetereto repeat something back
  • rispostawritten or spoken response
  • replicawritten or spoken response
Japanese 返事する, 返信する
  • 返事する (henji-suru)to give a written or spoken response
  • 返信する (henshin-suru)to give a written or spoken response
  • 答える (kotaeru)to give a written or spoken response
  • 返事する (henji-suru)to act or gesture in response
  • 返事する (henji-suru)to repeat something back
  • 返事 (henji)written or spoken response
  • 返答 (hentō)written or spoken response
  • 答え (kotae)written or spoken response
  • 返信 (henshin)written or spoken response
  • 回答 (kaitō)written or spoken response
  • リプライ (ripurai)written or spoken response
  • リプ (ripu)written or spoken response
  • レス (resu)written or spoken response
  • お返し (okaeshi)something given in reply
Korean 대답하다, 대답
  • 대답하다 (daedaphada)to give a written or spoken response
  • 대답 (daedap)written or spoken response
  • 답변 (dapbyeon)written or spoken response
  • 회답 (hoedap)written or spoken response
  • 리플 (ripeul)written or spoken response
  • 댓글 (daetgeul)written or spoken response
Latin respondeō, resequor
  • respondeōto give a written or spoken response
  • resequorto give a written or spoken response
  • responsumwritten or spoken response
Latvian atbilde
  • atbildewritten or spoken response
Lithuanian atsakymas
  • atsakymaswritten or spoken response
Māori urupare
  • urupareto give a written or spoken response
Norwegian svare
  • svareto give a written or spoken response
Norwegian Bokmål svar
  • svarwritten or spoken response
Persian جواب دادن, پاسخانیدن
  • جواب دادن (javâb dâdan)to give a written or spoken response
  • پاسخانیدن (pâsoxânidan)to give a written or spoken response
Polish odpowiadać, odpowiedzieć
  • odpowiadaćto give a written or spoken response
  • odpowiedziećto give a written or spoken response
  • odpowiedźwritten or spoken response
Portuguese responder, responder
  • responderto give a written or spoken response
  • responderto act or gesture in response
  • repetirto repeat something back
  • respostawritten or spoken response
  • respostasomething given in reply
Romanian răspunde, răspuns
  • răspundeto give a written or spoken response
  • răspunswritten or spoken response
Russian отвеча́ть, отве́тить
  • отвеча́ть (otvečátʹ)to give a written or spoken response
  • отве́тить (otvétitʹ)to give a written or spoken response
  • отвеча́ть (otvečátʹ)to act or gesture in response
  • отве́тить (otvétitʹ)to act or gesture in response
  • отве́т (otvét)written or spoken response
  • отве́т (otvét)something given in reply
Scottish Gaelic freagair, freagair
  • freagairto give a written or spoken response
  • freagairto act or gesture in response
  • freagairtwritten or spoken response
Slovak odpoveď
  • odpoveďwritten or spoken response
Spanish responder, contestar
  • responderto give a written or spoken response
  • contestarto give a written or spoken response
  • responderto act or gesture in response
  • contestarto act or gesture in response
  • repetirto repeat something back
  • respuestawritten or spoken response
  • responsiónwritten or spoken response
  • contestaciónwritten or spoken response
  • respuestasomething given in reply
  • responsiónsomething given in reply
  • contestaciónsomething given in reply
Swedish svara, besvara
  • svarato give a written or spoken response
  • besvarato give a written or spoken response
  • svarwritten or spoken response
Tagalog sagot, buwelta
  • sagotwritten or spoken response
  • buweltawritten or spoken response
Tamil பதில் சொல்
  • பதில் சொல் (patil col)to give a written or spoken response
Thai คำตอบ
  • คำตอบ (kam-dtɔ̀ɔp)written or spoken response
Turkish yanıt, cevap
  • yanıtwritten or spoken response
  • cevapwritten or spoken response
Ukrainian розповіда́ти, розпові́сти
  • розповіда́ти (rozpovidáty)to give a written or spoken response
  • розпові́сти (rozpovísty)to give a written or spoken response
  • ві́дповідь (vídpovidʹ)written or spoken response
Urdu جواب دینا, جَواب
  • جواب دینا (javāb denā)to give a written or spoken response
  • جَواب (javāb)written or spoken response
Vietnamese trả lời, hồi đáp
  • trả lờito give a written or spoken response
  • hồi đápto give a written or spoken response
  • hồi âmto give a written or spoken response
  • trả lờiwritten or spoken response
Welsh ateb, ateb
  • atebto give a written or spoken response
  • atebwritten or spoken response

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with reply

byimybuyhighywhyjJulytryapplysupplyhieyeguyfidiflyskynearbykyspysivi
All rhymes →

Anagrams

plyerlepry
Cite this entry
APA

reply. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reply

MLA

“reply.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reply. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reply,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reply.

Source: reply on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.