kissvsKissenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,200
“kiss” frequency rank
#7,781
“Kissen” frequency rank
23981
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kiss Kissen
Definition Kuss mit weichem Füllmaterial befüllter Beutel zur Unterpolsterung und Stützung von Körperteilen; Accessoire in der Gestaltung der Wohnräume

Where the eye mixes kiss and Kissen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. kiss runs 4 letters (CVCC) against Kissen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
kiss
6 ch
Kissen

Visual trap between kiss and Kissen

A purely visual mix-up. kiss ([kɪs]) and Kissen ([ˈkɪsn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “kiss” sits inside “Kissen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23981, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kiss is recorded at frequency rank #16,200, classified as anoun, pronounced [kɪs]. Kissen is at rank #7,781, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɪsn̩].

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 23981, this pair ranks #1,853,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kiss vs Kissen

Shared letters: iks. Private to "kiss": -. Private to "Kissen": en.

"kiss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Kissen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kiss ← ikss · kis · kiß · kkiss · ksis
  • Kissen ← ikssen · kisen · kisesn · kissenn · kissne · kißen · kkissen · ksisen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kiss" and "Kissen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kɪs] versus [ˈkɪsn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kiss" or "Kissen"?
"Kissen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,781 in our German list, against #16,200 for "kiss". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "kiss" and "Kissen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kiss" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kissen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,853,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kiss" and "Kissen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kiss vs Knies". 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 #1,853,920 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