EinbrechervsEisbrecherTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,884
“Einbrecher” frequency rank
#43,833
“Eisbrecher” frequency rank
53717
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Einbrecher Eisbrecher
Definition Person, die unerlaubt ein fremdes Grundstück betritt, um Sachen zu entwenden Spezialschiff, das in der Lage ist Eis zu brechen und so das Zufrieren von Schifffahrtsrouten verhindert

Where the eye mixes Einbrecher and Eisbrecher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

10 ch
Einbrecher
10 ch
Eisbrecher

Look-alike desk: Einbrecher vs Eisbrecher

A purely visual mix-up. Einbrecher ([ˈaɪ̯nˌbʁɛçɐ]) and Eisbrecher ([ˈaɪ̯sˌbʁɛçɐ]) 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 a single letter - n in “Einbrecher” becomes s in “Eisbrecher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53717, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Einbrecher is recorded at frequency rank #9,884, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌbʁɛçɐ]. Eisbrecher is at rank #43,833, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯sˌbʁɛçɐ].

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 53717, this pair ranks #1,047,101 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Einbrecher vs Eisbrecher

Shared letters: bcehir. Private to "Einbrecher": n. Private to "Eisbrecher": s.

"Einbrecher" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVCCVC  ·  "Eisbrecher" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Einbrechereibnrecher · einbbrecher · einbercher · einbrceher · einbreccher · einbrecehr · einbrecherr · einbrechher
  • Eisbrechereibsrecher · eisbbrecher · eisbercher · eisbrceher · eisbreccher · eisbrecehr · eisbrecherr · eisbrechher

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Einbrecher" and "Eisbrecher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌbʁɛçɐ] versus [ˈaɪ̯sˌbʁɛçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Einbrecher" or "Eisbrecher" show up more?
"Einbrecher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,884 in our German list, against #43,833 for "Eisbrecher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Einbrecher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Eisbrecher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,047,101 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Einbrecher" and "Eisbrecher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Einbrechern vs Eisbrecher". 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 #1,047,101 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