kiffenvsköpfenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,970
“kiffen” frequency rank
#7,497
“köpfen” frequency rank
27467
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kiffen köpfen
Definition Haschisch oder Marihuana rauchen jemandem (meist zur Exekution) den Kopf abtrennen

Where the eye mixes kiffen and köpfen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. kiffen and köpfen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
kiffen
6 ch
köpfen

Look-alike desk: kiffen vs köpfen

A purely visual mix-up. kiffen ([ˈkɪfn̩]) and köpfen ([ˈkœp͡fn̩]) 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 27467, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kiffen is recorded at frequency rank #19,970, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɪfn̩]. köpfen is at rank #7,497, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkœp͡fn̩].

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 27467, this pair ranks #1,801,346 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kiffen vs köpfen

Shared letters: efkn. Private to "kiffen": i. Private to "köpfen": .

"kiffen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "köpfen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kiffenikffen · kfifen · kifefn · kifen · kiffenn · kiffne · kkiffen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kiffen" and "köpfen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɪfn̩] versus [ˈkœp͡fn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kiffen" or "köpfen"?
"köpfen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,497 in our German list, against #19,970 for "kiffen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "kiffen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "köpfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,801,346 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kiffen" and "köpfen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kiffen vs kitten". 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 #1,801,346 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