billigvsbissigTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,251
“billig” frequency rank
#48,011
“bissig” frequency rank
52262
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature billig bissig
Definition angemessen (recht und billig) charakterlich so, dass jemand/etwas zum schnellen Zubeißen neigt

Where the eye mixes billig and bissig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. billig and bissig follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
billig
6 ch
bissig

Visual trap between billig and bissig

A purely visual mix-up. billig ([ˈbɪlɪç]) and bissig ([ˈbɪsɪç]) 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 52262, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

billig is recorded at frequency rank #4,251, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbɪlɪç]. bissig is at rank #48,011, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbɪsɪç].

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 52262, this pair ranks #1,103,691 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of billig vs bissig

Shared letters: bgi. Private to "billig": l. Private to "bissig": s.

"billig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "bissig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • billig ← bbillig · bilig · bililg · billgi · billigg · blilig · ibllig
  • bissig ← bbissig · bisig · bisisg · bissgi · bissigg · bißig · bsisig · ibssig

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "billig" for "bissig" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbɪlɪç] versus [ˈbɪsɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "billig" or "bissig" show up more?
"billig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,251 in our German list, against #48,011 for "bissig". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "billig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bissig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,103,691 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "billig" and "bissig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bissig vs Bussi". 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 #1,103,691 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