Which to use
“reek” and “rez” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,053
- “reek” frequency rank
- #45,052
- “rez” frequency rank
- 84105
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reek | rez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A strong unpleasant smell. | Clipping of reservation or reserve (semiautonomous Indigenous territory). |
Where the eye mixes reek and rez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. reek runs 4 letters (CVVC) against rez's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: reek vs rez
A purely visual mix-up. reek (/riːk/) and rez (/ɹɛz/) 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 84105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reek is recorded at frequency rank #39,053, classified as anoun, pronounced /riːk/. rez is at rank #45,052, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɛz/.
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 84105, this pair ranks #12,635 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of reek vs rez
Shared letters: er. Private to "reek": k. Private to "rez": z.
"reek" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "rez" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- reek ← erek · reekk · rek · reke · rreek
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "reek" for "rez" ever safe?
Frequency check: "reek" vs "rez" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "reek" and "rez" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reek" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,635 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reek" and "rez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rez vs Rua". 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 #12,635 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.