AngstvsanisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#578
“Angst” frequency rank
#33,432
“anis” frequency rank
34010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Angst anis
Definition Gefühl der (existentiellen) Furcht oder Sorge, etwa bei einer Bedrohung Anis

Where the eye mixes Angst and anis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Angst
4 ch
anis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Angst ([aŋst]) and anis ([a.ni(s)]) 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 34010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Angst is recorded at frequency rank #578, classified as anoun, pronounced [aŋst]. anis is at rank #33,432, tagged as anoun, pronounced [a.ni(s)].

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 34010, this pair ranks #1,673,039 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Angst vs anis

Shared letters: ans. Private to "Angst": gt. Private to "anis": i.

"Angst" · 5 letters · shape VCCCC  ·  "anis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Angstagnst · anggst · angsst · angstt · angts · anngst · ansgt · nagst
  • anisains · aniss · annis · ansi · nais

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Angst" and "anis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aŋst] versus [a.ni(s)]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Angst" or "anis"?
"Angst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #578 in our German list, against #33,432 for "anis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "Angst" and "anis". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Angst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,673,039 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Angst" and "anis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anis vs avis". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list