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PlainSpell

relief

re·lief/rɪˈlif/noun, adjective

relief is spelled R-E-L-I-E-F, 2 syllables: re·lief. The wrong spelling people search most is releif: about 340 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 19 of all searches for the word. Relief is a noun meaning “The removal of stress or discomfort”. The plural of relief is reliefs.

How many letters and syllables are in relief?

Letters6: R-E-L-I-E-F
Syllables2: re·lief
In writing35 times per million words; the 2,725th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, releif, about 340 Bing searches a month (all of them)
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How do you spell relief?

Relief is spelled R-E-L-I-E-F. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 19 of the searches for relief in either form.

reliefthe right spelling6,090 searches a month
releifi and e swapped340 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is relief?

Relief appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,725th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce relief?

  • UK /rɪˈliːf/
  • /ɹɪˈliːf/
  • US /rɪˈlif/

Relief has 2 syllables, split re·lief in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-relief.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with relief?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as relief from its last stressed vowel (/if/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: refile, relife.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of relief

  • reliefs plural
  • more relief comparative
  • most relief superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does relief mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The removal of stress or discomfort.

    I sighed with relief when I found out that my daughter hadn't got lost, but was waiting for me at home.

  2. 2

    The feeling associated with the removal of stress or discomfort.

  3. 3

    Release from a post or duty, as when replaced by another.

  4. 4

    The person who takes over a shift for another.

    Officer Schmidt can finally go home because his relief has arrived.

  5. 5

    Aid or assistance offered in time of need.

    Relief arrived quickly after the disaster.

  6. 6

    Military assistance to break a siege or an encirclement.

  7. 7

    Court-ordered compensation, aid, or protection, a redress.

  8. 8

    A lowering of a tax through special provisions; tax relief.

  9. 9

    A method of sculpture or other artwork in which shapes or figures protrude from a flat background.

  10. 10

    A sculpture or other artwork made with such a method.

  11. 11

    The apparent difference in elevation in the surface of a painting or drawing made noticeable by a variation in light or color.

  12. 12

    The difference of elevations on a surface.

    the relief on that part of the Earth's surface

  13. 13

    Relative distinctness, perceived difference due to contrast.

  14. 14

    The supposed projection of a charge from the surface of a field, indicated by shading on the sinister and lower sides.

adjective

  1. 1

    Characterized by surface inequalities.

  2. 2

    Of or used in letterpress.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Relief in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsoulagement, allégement (removal of stress or discomfort), relève (release from a post or duty, as when replaced…), relief (type of artwork)
GermanErleichterung, Entlastung (removal of stress or discomfort), Relief (type of artwork), Ablösung (person who takes over a shift), Hilfe, Unterstützung (humanitarian aid or assistance)
Portuguesealívio (removal of stress or discomfort), relevo (type of artwork), auxílio, assistência humanitária (humanitarian aid or assistance)
Spanishalivio, desahogo (removal of stress or discomfort), relevación (release from a post or duty, as when replaced…), relevo, remuda (person who takes over a shift), aliviane (feeling associated with removal of stress or…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does relief come from?

From Old French relief (“assistance”), from Old French relever (“to relieve”), from Latin relevare (“to raise up, make light”). See also relieve.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after relief