GelächtervsGesichterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,101
“Gelächter” frequency rank
#5,086
“Gesichter” frequency rank
20187
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gelächter Gesichter
Definition beständiges Lachen, das über eine relativ lange Zeit andauert Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gesicht

Where the eye mixes Gelächter and Gesichter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Gelächter and Gesichter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
Gelächter
9 ch
Gesichter

Look-alike desk: Gelächter vs Gesichter

A purely visual mix-up. Gelächter ([ɡəˈlɛçtɐ]) and Gesichter ([ɡəˈzɪçtɐ]) 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 20187, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gelächter is recorded at frequency rank #15,101, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈlɛçtɐ]. Gesichter is at rank #5,086, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈzɪçtɐ].

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 20187, this pair ranks #1,900,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gelächter vs Gesichter

Shared letters: ceghrt. Private to "Gelächter": lä. Private to "Gesichter": is.

"Gelächter" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "Gesichter" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gesichter ← egsichter · geischter · gescihter · gesicchter · gesichhter · gesichterr · gesichtre · gesichtter

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gelächter" for "Gesichter" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈlɛçtɐ] versus [ɡəˈzɪçtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gelächter" or "Gesichter"?
"Gesichter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,086 in our German list, against #15,101 for "Gelächter". 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 "Gelächter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gesichter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,900,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gelächter" and "Gesichter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geächtet vs Gelächter". 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 #1,900,365 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