Which to use
“kalt” is an adjective and “Kult” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,306
- “kalt” frequency rank
- #8,236
- “Kult” frequency rank
- 10542
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kalt | Kult |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine niedrige Temperatur habend; von/mit niedriger Temperatur; nicht (mehr) heiß | auf bestimmten Abläufen und Riten beruhende Verehrung einer Gottheit |
Where the eye mixes kalt and Kult
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kalt and Kult follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses kalt with Kult
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kalt is [kalt] while Kult is [kʊlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “kalt” becomes u in “Kult”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10542, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kalt is recorded at frequency rank #2,306, classified as anadj, pronounced [kalt]. Kult is at rank #8,236, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʊlt].
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 10542, this pair ranks #1,974,624 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kalt vs Kult
Shared letters: klt. Private to "kalt": a. Private to "Kult": u.
"kalt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Kult" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kalt" for "Kult" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "kalt" or "Kult" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kalt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kult" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,974,624 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kalt" and "Kult" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kola vs Kult". 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 #1,974,624 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.