chronischvschronischeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,534
“chronisch” frequency rank
#15,325
“chronische” frequency rank
29859
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chronisch chronische
Definition langsam entstehend und lange dauernd Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs chronisch

Where the eye mixes chronisch and chronische

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. chronisch runs 9 letters (CCCVCVCCC) against chronische's 10 (CCCVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
chronisch
10 ch
chronische

Look-alike desk: chronisch vs chronische

A purely visual mix-up. chronisch ([ˈkʁoːnɪʃ]) and chronische ([ˈkʁoːnɪʃə]) 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) - “chronisch” sits inside “chronische”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chronisch is recorded at frequency rank #14,534, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁoːnɪʃ]. chronische is at rank #15,325, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁoːnɪʃə].

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 29859, this pair ranks #1,758,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of chronisch vs chronische

Shared letters: chinors. Private to "chronisch": -. Private to "chronische": e.

"chronisch" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCVCCC  ·  "chronische" · 10 letters · shape CCCVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chronisch ← cchronisch · chhronisch · chornisch · chrnoisch · chroinsch · chronicsh · chroniscch · chronischh
  • chronische ← cchronische · chhronische · chornische · chrnoische · chroinsche · chronicshe · chroniscche · chronisceh

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chronisch" and "chronische" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁoːnɪʃ] versus [ˈkʁoːnɪʃə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chronisch" or "chronische"?
"chronisch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,534 in our German list, against #15,325 for "chronische". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "chronisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chronische" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,758,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chronisch" and "chronische" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chaotische vs chronische". 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 #1,758,912 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