dichtvsdochConfusable pair

Quick tell: dicht is a adjective, doch is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dicht” is an adjective and “doch” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,949
“dicht” frequency rank
#71
“doch” frequency rank
3020
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dicht doch
Definition eng, nahe beieinanderliegend, undurchdringlich trotzdem, dennoch

Where the eye mixes dicht and doch

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

5 ch
dicht
4 ch
doch

Why the eye confuses dicht with doch

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dicht is [dɪçt] while doch is [dɔx]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3020, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dicht is recorded at frequency rank #2,949, classified as anadj, pronounced [dɪçt]. doch is at rank #71, tagged as anadv, pronounced [dɔx].

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 3020, this pair ranks #2,001,122 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dicht vs doch

Shared letters: cdh. Private to "dicht": it. Private to "doch": o.

"dicht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "doch" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dichtdciht · ddicht · diccht · dichht · dichtt · dicth · dihct · idcht
  • dochdcoh · ddoch · docch · dochh · dohc · odch

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dicht" and "doch" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dicht" is an adjective and "doch" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "dicht" vs "doch" - which ranks higher?
"doch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #71 in our German list, against #2,949 for "dicht". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dicht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "doch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,122 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dicht" and "doch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dicht vs duch". 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 #2,001,122 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