Which to use
“dicht” is an adjective and “droht” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,949
- “dicht” frequency rank
- #3,306
- “droht” frequency rank
- 6255
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dicht | droht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eng, nahe beieinanderliegend, undurchdringlich | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs drohen |
Where the eye mixes dicht and droht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dicht with droht
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dicht is [dɪçt] while droht is [dʁoːt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6255, 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]. droht is at rank #3,306, tagged as averb, pronounced [dʁoːt].
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 6255, this pair ranks #1,992,232 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dicht vs droht
Shared letters: dht. Private to "dicht": ci. Private to "droht": or.
"dicht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "droht" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dicht" and "droht" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dicht" or "droht"?
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 "droht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,992,232 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dicht" and "droht" 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 #1,992,232 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.