fixenvsfügenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#21,967
“fixen” frequency rank
#11,056
“fügen” frequency rank
33023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fixen fügen
Definition sich eine (Drogen-)Spritze setzen Dinge so aneinandersetzen, miteinander in einen Zusammenhang bringen, dass daraus ein Ganzes wird

Where the eye mixes fixen and fügen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fixen and fügen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
fixen
5 ch
fügen

Why the eye confuses fixen with fügen

A purely visual mix-up. fixen ([ˈfɪksn̩]) and fügen ([ˈfyːɡn̩]) 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 33023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fixen is recorded at frequency rank #21,967, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfɪksn̩]. fügen is at rank #11,056, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːɡn̩].

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 33023, this pair ranks #1,694,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fixen vs fügen

Shared letters: efn. Private to "fixen": ix. Private to "fügen": gü.

"fixen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fügen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fixen ← ffixen · fiexn · fixenn · fixne · fixxen · fxien · ifxen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fixen" and "fügen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɪksn̩] versus [ˈfyːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fixen" vs "fügen" - which ranks higher?
"fügen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,056 in our German list, against #21,967 for "fixen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "fixen" and "fügen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fixen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fügen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,694,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fixen" and "fügen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Filet vs fixen". 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 #1,694,950 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