BienevsBiestWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,376
“Biene” frequency rank
#21,910
“Biest” frequency rank
38286
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Biene Biest
Definition behaartes, fliegendes Insekt aus der Ordnung der Hautflügler; widerwärtiges Tier

Where the eye mixes Biene and Biest

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

5 ch
Biene
5 ch
Biest

Visual trap between Biene and Biest

A purely visual mix-up. Biene ([ˈbiːnə]) and Biest ([biːst]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Biene is recorded at frequency rank #16,376, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbiːnə]. Biest is at rank #21,910, tagged as anoun, pronounced [biːst].

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 38286, this pair ranks #1,567,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Biene vs Biest

Shared letters: bei. Private to "Biene": n. Private to "Biest": st.

"Biene" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Biest" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bienebbiene · bieen · binee · ibene
  • Biestbbiest · beist · biesst · biestt · biets · biset · ibest

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Biene" and "Biest" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbiːnə] versus [biːst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Biene" or "Biest"?
"Biene" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,376 in our German list, against #21,910 for "Biest". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Biene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Biest" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,567,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Biene" and "Biest" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Biest vs Bims". 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 #1,567,862 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list