Which to use
“kosmetische” and “kosmische” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,300
- “kosmetische” frequency rank
- #31,139
- “kosmische” frequency rank
- 74439
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kosmetische | kosmische |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kosmetisch | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kosmisch |
Where the eye mixes kosmetische and kosmische
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. kosmetische runs 11 letters (CVCCVCVCCCV) against kosmische's 9 (CVCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: kosmetische vs kosmische
A purely visual mix-up. kosmetische ([ˌkɔsˈmeːtɪʃə]) and kosmische ([ˈkɔsmɪʃə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kosmetische is recorded at frequency rank #43,300, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌkɔsˈmeːtɪʃə]. kosmische is at rank #31,139, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkɔsmɪʃə].
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 74439, this pair ranks #333,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of kosmetische vs kosmische
Shared letters: cehikmos. Private to "kosmetische": t. Private to "kosmische": -.
"kosmetische" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCV · "kosmische" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- kosmetische ← kkosmetische · komsetische · kosemtische · kosmeitsche · kosmeticshe · kosmetiscche · kosmetisceh · kosmetischhe
- kosmische ← kkosmische · komsische · kosimsche · kosmicshe · kosmiscche · kosmisceh · kosmischhe · kosmishce
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kosmetische" and "kosmische" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "kosmetische" vs "kosmische" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kosmetische" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kosmische" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #333,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kosmetische" and "kosmische" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kölnische vs kosmische". 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 #333,464 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.