krankvskrassConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,736
“krank” frequency rank
#3,751
“krass” frequency rank
5487
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature krank krass
Definition körperlich und/oder psychisch gesundheitlich eingeschränkt extrem, besonders intensiv

Where the eye mixes krank and krass

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
krank
5 ch
krass

Look-alike desk: krank vs krass

A purely visual mix-up. krank ([kʁaŋk]) and krass ([kʁas]) 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 5487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

krank is recorded at frequency rank #1,736, classified as anadj, pronounced [kʁaŋk]. krass is at rank #3,751, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kʁas].

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 5487, this pair ranks #1,994,598 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of krank vs krass

Shared letters: akr. Private to "krank": n. Private to "krass": s.

"krank" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "krass" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • krankkarnk · kkrank · krakn · krankk · krannk · krnak · krrank · rkank
  • krasskarss · kkrass · kras · kraß · krrass · krsas · rkass

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "krank" and "krass" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kʁaŋk] versus [kʁas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "krank" or "krass"?
"krank" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,736 in our German list, against #3,751 for "krass". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "krank" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "krass" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,994,598 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "krank" and "krass" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "krank vs krönt". 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 #1,994,598 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