Which to use
“Gleis” and “Greis” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,378
- “Gleis” frequency rank
- #39,401
- “Greis” frequency rank
- 48779
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gleis | Greis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fahrweg für Schienenfahrzeuge, der aus zwei parallel verlaufenden Schienen besteht | sehr alter Mensch, meist Mann |
Where the eye mixes Gleis and Greis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Gleis and Greis follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Gleis and Greis
A purely visual mix-up. Gleis ([ɡlaɪ̯s]) and Greis ([ɡʁaɪ̯s]) 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 - l in “Gleis” becomes r in “Greis”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Gleis is recorded at frequency rank #9,378, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡlaɪ̯s]. Greis is at rank #39,401, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡʁaɪ̯s].
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 48779, this pair ranks #1,235,960 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Gleis vs Greis
Shared letters: egis. Private to "Gleis": l. Private to "Greis": r.
"Gleis" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "Greis" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Gleis" and "Greis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Gleis" or "Greis" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Gleis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Greis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,235,960 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gleis" and "Greis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "greco vs Greis". 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 #1,235,960 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.