Which to use
“blinken” and “blitzen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,107
- “blinken” frequency rank
- #26,337
- “blitzen” frequency rank
- 54444
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | blinken | blitzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | rhythmisch kurze Lichtsignale aussenden | sich durch die Luft unter Lichtentstehung (elektrisch) entladen |
Where the eye mixes blinken and blitzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. blinken and blitzen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between blinken and blitzen
A purely visual mix-up. blinken ([ˈblɪŋkn̩]) and blitzen ([ˈblɪt͡sn̩]) 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 54444, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
blinken is recorded at frequency rank #28,107, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈblɪŋkn̩]. blitzen is at rank #26,337, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈblɪt͡sn̩].
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 54444, this pair ranks #1,018,636 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of blinken vs blitzen
Shared letters: beiln. Private to "blinken": k. Private to "blitzen": tz.
"blinken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "blitzen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "blinken" and "blitzen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "blinken" vs "blitzen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "blinken" and "blitzen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "blinken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "blitzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,018,636 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "blinken" and "blitzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "blindes vs blinken". 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 #1,018,636 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.