RepressionvsRezessionWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,284
“Repression” frequency rank
#22,864
“Rezession” frequency rank
46148
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Repression Rezession
Definition Unterdrückung Phase negativen Wirtschaftswachstums oder schrumpfenden Bruttoinlandsprodukts

Where the eye mixes Repression and Rezession

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
Repression
9 ch
Rezession

Visual trap between Repression and Rezession

A purely visual mix-up. Repression ([ʁepʁɛˈsi̯oːn]) and Rezession ([ʁet͡sɛˈsi̯oːn]) 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 46148, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Repression is recorded at frequency rank #23,284, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁepʁɛˈsi̯oːn]. Rezession is at rank #22,864, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁet͡sɛˈsi̯oːn].

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 46148, this pair ranks #1,328,989 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Repression vs Rezession

Shared letters: einors. Private to "Repression": p. Private to "Rezession": z.

"Repression" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC  ·  "Rezession" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Repressionerpression · reperssion · reppression · represion · represison · repressino · repressionn · repressoin
  • Rezessionerzession · reezssion · rezesion · rezesison · rezessino · rezessionn · rezessoin · rezeßion

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Repression" and "Rezession" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʁepʁɛˈsi̯oːn] versus [ʁet͡sɛˈsi̯oːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Repression" or "Rezession"?
"Rezession" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,864 in our German list, against #23,284 for "Repression". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Repression" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rezession" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,328,989 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Repression" and "Rezession" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Repression vs Repressionen". 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 #1,328,989 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