frechvsfrecheWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,545
“frech” frequency rank
#26,878
“freche” frequency rank
36423
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature frech freche
Definition die Normen und Höflichkeit missachtend, Respekt vermissen lassend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs frech

Where the eye mixes frech and freche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
frech
6 ch
freche

Why the eye confuses frech with freche

A purely visual mix-up. frech ([fʁɛç]) and freche ([ˈfʁɛçə]) 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) - “frech” sits inside “freche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

frech is recorded at frequency rank #9,545, classified as anadj, pronounced [fʁɛç]. freche is at rank #26,878, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁɛçə].

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 36423, this pair ranks #1,615,975 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of frech vs freche

Shared letters: cefhr. Private to "frech": -. Private to "freche": -.

"frech" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "freche" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • frechferch · ffrech · frceh · frecch · frechh · frehc · frrech · rfech
  • frecheferche · ffreche · frcehe · frecche · freceh · frechhe · frehce · frreche

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "frech" and "freche" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fʁɛç] versus [ˈfʁɛçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "frech" or "freche" show up more?
"frech" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,545 in our German list, against #26,878 for "freche". 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 "frech" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "freche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,615,975 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "frech" and "freche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "freche vs frecher". 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 #1,615,975 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