Which to use
“relay” is a noun and “relayed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,849
- “relay” frequency rank
- #28,341
- “relayed” frequency rank
- 37190
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | relay | relayed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A new set of hounds. | simple past and past participle of relay |
Where the eye mixes relay and relayed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: relay vs relayed
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: relay is /ˈɹiːleɪ/ while relayed is /ˈɹiːleɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “relay” sits inside “relayed”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37190, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
relay is recorded at frequency rank #8,849, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹiːleɪ/. relayed is at rank #28,341, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɹiːleɪd/.
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 37190, this pair ranks #296,642 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of relay vs relayed
Shared letters: aelry. Private to "relay": -. Private to "relayed": d.
"relay" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "relayed" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "relay" and "relayed" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "relay" or "relayed" show up more?
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 "relay" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "relayed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #296,642 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "relay" and "relayed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reedy vs relay". 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 #296,642 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.