RehavsrelaxConfusable pair

Quick tell: Reha is a noun, relax is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Reha” is a noun and “relax” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,192
“Reha” frequency rank
#36,589
“relax” frequency rank
51781
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Reha relax
Definition Gesamtheit der Maßnahmen, die für die Wiedereingliederung eines Kranken oder Behinderten in das Berufs- und Privatleben ergriffen werden 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs relaxen

Where the eye mixes Reha and relax

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Reha runs 4 letters (CVCV) against relax's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Reha
5 ch
relax

Look-alike desk: Reha vs relax

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Reha is [ˈʁeːha] while relax is [ʁiˈlɛks]. 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 51781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Reha is recorded at frequency rank #15,192, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁeːha]. relax is at rank #36,589, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁiˈlɛks].

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 51781, this pair ranks #1,122,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Reha vs relax

Shared letters: aer. Private to "Reha": h. Private to "relax": lx.

"Reha" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "relax" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Reha ← erha · reah · rehha · rhea · rreha
  • relax ← erlax · realx · relaxx · rellax · relxa · rleax · rrelax

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Reha" and "relax" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Reha" is a noun and "relax" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Reha" or "relax" show up more?
"Reha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,192 in our German list, against #36,589 for "relax". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Reha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "relax" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,122,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Reha" and "relax" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Relais vs relax". 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 #1,122,271 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