ReichvsreicherConfusable pair

Quick tell: Reich is a noun, reicher is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Reich” is a noun and “reicher” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,019
“Reich” frequency rank
#7,656
“reicher” frequency rank
8675
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Reich reicher
Definition Land, Gruppe von Ländern, Ländereien, die von einem Monarchen (König, Kaiser, Zar) oder anderem Herrscher regiert werden Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs reich

Where the eye mixes Reich and reicher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Reich runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against reicher's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Reich
7 ch
reicher

Why the eye confuses Reich with reicher

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Reich is [ʁaɪ̯ç] while reicher is [ˈʁaɪ̯çɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Reich” sits inside “reicher”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8675, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Reich is recorded at frequency rank #1,019, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁaɪ̯ç]. reicher is at rank #7,656, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯çɐ].

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 8675, this pair ranks #1,983,330 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Reich vs reicher

Shared letters: cehir. Private to "Reich": -. Private to "reicher": -.

"Reich" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "reicher" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Reichrecih · reicch · reichh · reihc · riech · rreich
  • reicherericher · reciher · reiccher · reicehr · reicherr · reichher · reichre · reihcer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Reich" for "reicher" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Reich" is a noun and "reicher" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Reich" or "reicher"?
"Reich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,019 in our German list, against #7,656 for "reicher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Reich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,983,330 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Reich" and "reicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rächer vs reicher". 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 #1,983,330 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