Which to use
“reed” is a noun and “reese” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,037
- “reed” frequency rank
- #31,750
- “reese” frequency rank
- 49787
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reed | reese |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bestimmtes Gras; Schilf | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs reesen |
Where the eye mixes reed and reese
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. reed runs 4 letters (CVVC) against reese's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses reed with reese
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reed is [riːd] while reese is [ˈʁeːzə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49787, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reed is recorded at frequency rank #18,037, classified as anoun, pronounced [riːd]. reese is at rank #31,750, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁeːzə].
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 49787, this pair ranks #1,198,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of reed vs reese
Shared letters: er. Private to "reed": d. Private to "reese": s.
"reed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "reese" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "reed" and "reese" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "reed" or "reese"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "reed" and "reese" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reese" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,198,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reed" and "reese" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reese vs regst". 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 #1,198,420 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.