the same character three times or more
Matches the same character three times or more. It finds the match anywhere inside the text. There is 1 capture group.
Pattern
/(.)\1{2,}/- Match scope
- anywhere inside the text
- Capture groups
- 1
- What it catches in the first example
- aaa
Try it yourself
Type any text and the parts this expression catches are highlighted. It runs in your browser and is never sent anywhere.
aaa
wooow
2 matches
Examples that match
- aaa
- wooow
Examples that do not match
- aa
- abc
Other expressions in this group
^\s*(\S+)the first word(\S+)\s*$the last word\d+runs of digits inside a text\b\w+\beach word, one by one\[([^\]]*)\]what sits inside square brackets\(([^)]*)\)what sits inside round brackets[\uD800-\uDBFF][\uDC00-\uDFFF]an emoji that takes two code units,\s*([}\]])a comma left before a closing bracketHow to read this
- With ^ and $ around it, the whole string must match; without them the match can sit anywhere. Always anchor an expression you use for validation.
- Round brackets ( ) capture what they wrap. When you only need grouping, write (?: ) so the numbering of later groups does not shift.
- Every expression here is checked against its examples. Even so, "looks like an email" and "is a real inbox" remain different questions.
- Nested open-ended repeats such as (a+)+ can blow up on certain inputs. Look for that shape before pasting someone else’s expression into your code.
Frequently asked questions
Q. What is the regex for the same character three times or more?
(.)\1{2,}.
Q. Which strings match?
Text like aaa matches; text like aa does not.
Q. Does the whole string have to match?
No. It finds the part anywhere inside the text. Add ^ and $ around it if you want a whole-string check.
Q. How do I use what it caught?
There is one capture group, so you can read them from match[1] onwards.