Which to use
“imitieren” and “irritieren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,255
- “imitieren” frequency rank
- #37,593
- “irritieren” frequency rank
- 65848
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | imitieren | irritieren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas nach dem Muster, Vorbild von etwas Anderem tun | von einer Sache ablenken; die Konzentration stören |
Where the eye mixes imitieren and irritieren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. imitieren runs 9 letters (VCVCVVCVC) against irritieren's 10 (VCCVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses imitieren with irritieren
A purely visual mix-up. imitieren ([imiˈtiːʁən]) and irritieren ([ɪʁiˈtiːʁən]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
imitieren is recorded at frequency rank #28,255, classified as averb, pronounced [imiˈtiːʁən]. irritieren is at rank #37,593, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɪʁiˈtiːʁən].
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 65848, this pair ranks #592,921 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of imitieren vs irritieren
Shared letters: einrt. Private to "imitieren": m. Private to "irritieren": -.
"imitieren" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVVCVC · "irritieren" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- imitieren ← iimtieren · imiiteren · imiteiren · imitieern · imitierenn · imitierne · imitierren · imitireen
- irritieren ← irirtieren · iritieren · irriiteren · irriteiren · irritieern · irritierenn · irritierne · irritierren
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "imitieren" and "irritieren" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "imitieren" or "irritieren" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "imitieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "irritieren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #592,921 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "imitieren" and "irritieren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "irritieren vs irritierend". 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 #592,921 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.