ReesvsReussWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Rees” and “Reuss” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,787
“Rees” frequency rank
#30,263
“Reuss” frequency rank
71050
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Rees Reuss
Definition eine Stadt in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Deutschland Fluss in der Schweiz

Where the eye mixes Rees and Reuss

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Rees
5 ch
Reuss

Look-alike desk: Rees vs Reuss

A purely visual mix-up. Rees ([ʁeːs]) and Reuss ([ʁɔɪ̯s]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71050, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rees is recorded at frequency rank #40,787, classified as aname, pronounced [ʁeːs]. Reuss is at rank #30,263, tagged as aname, pronounced [ʁɔɪ̯s].

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 71050, this pair ranks #428,216 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Rees vs Reuss

Shared letters: ers. Private to "Rees": -. Private to "Reuss": u.

"Rees" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Reuss" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Reeseres · reess · rrees
  • Reusseruss · resus · reus · reuß · rreuss · ruess

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Rees" for "Reuss" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʁeːs] versus [ʁɔɪ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Rees" vs "Reuss" - which ranks higher?
"Reuss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,263 in our German list, against #40,787 for "Rees". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Rees" and "Reuss" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Rees" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Reuss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #428,216 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Rees" and "Reuss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rees vs Remus". 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 #428,216 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list