relajavsrelajarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“relaja” and “relajar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,574
“relaja” frequency rank
#26,594
“relajar” frequency rank
50168
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature relaja relajar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de relajar o de relajarse. Aflojar, ablandar, soltar.

Where the eye mixes relaja and relajar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. relaja runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against relajar's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
relaja
7 ch
relajar

Look-alike desk: relaja vs relajar

A purely visual mix-up. relaja ([reˈlaxa]) and relajar ([relaˈxaɾ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “relaja” sits inside “relajar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

relaja is recorded at frequency rank #23,574, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈlaxa]. relajar is at rank #26,594, tagged as averb, pronounced [relaˈxaɾ].

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 50168, this pair ranks #104,702 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of relaja vs relajar

Shared letters: aejlr. Private to "relaja": -. Private to "relajar": -.

"relaja" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "relajar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • relaja ← erlaja · realja · relaaj · relajja · reljaa · rellaja · rleaja · rrelaja
  • relajar ← erlajar · realjar · relaajr · relajarr · relajjar · relajra · reljaar · rellajar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "relaja" and "relajar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([reˈlaxa] versus [relaˈxaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "relaja" or "relajar"?
"relaja" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,574 in our Spanish list, against #26,594 for "relajar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "relaja" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "relajar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #104,702 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "relaja" and "relajar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "relajar vs relaje". 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 #104,702 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list