Which to use
“Kobalt” and “Kobold” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,075
- “Kobalt” frequency rank
- #36,450
- “Kobold” frequency rank
- 82525
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kobalt | Kobold |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | chemisches Element mit der Ordnungszahl 27, das zur Serie der Übergangsmetalle gehört | zwergenhaftes Geistwesen, das mit anderen Schabernack treibt |
Where the eye mixes Kobalt and Kobold
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kobalt and Kobold follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Kobalt with Kobold
A purely visual mix-up. Kobalt ([ˈkoːbalt]) and Kobold ([ˈkoːbɔlt]) 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 82525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kobalt is recorded at frequency rank #46,075, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkoːbalt]. Kobold is at rank #36,450, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkoːbɔlt].
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 82525, this pair ranks #155,659 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Kobalt vs Kobold
Shared letters: bklo. Private to "Kobalt": at. Private to "Kobold": d.
"Kobalt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "Kobold" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Kobalt" and "Kobold" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Kobalt" or "Kobold" 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 "Kobalt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Kobold" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #155,659 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kobalt" and "Kobold" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kalt vs Kobalt". 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 #155,659 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.