Which to use
“kleiden” and “kreisen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,199
- “kleiden” frequency rank
- #5,195
- “kreisen” frequency rank
- 28394
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kleiden | kreisen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit Kleidung versehen | sich kreisförmig um etwas bewegen |
Where the eye mixes kleiden and kreisen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. kleiden and kreisen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses kleiden with kreisen
A purely visual mix-up. kleiden ([ˈklaɪ̯dn̩]) and kreisen ([ˈkʁaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 28394, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kleiden is recorded at frequency rank #23,199, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯dn̩]. kreisen is at rank #5,195, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁaɪ̯zn̩].
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 28394, this pair ranks #1,785,559 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kleiden vs kreisen
Shared letters: eikn. Private to "kleiden": dl. Private to "kreisen": rs.
"kleiden" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "kreisen" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kleiden" for "kreisen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "kleiden" or "kreisen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "kleiden" and "kreisen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kleiden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kreisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,785,559 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kleiden" and "kreisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kleiden vs kneifen". 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 #1,785,559 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.