krankhaftvsKrankheitConfusable pair

Quick tell: krankhaft is a adjective, Krankheit is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“krankhaft” is an adjective and “Krankheit” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,236
“krankhaft” frequency rank
#2,163
“Krankheit” frequency rank
40399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature krankhaft Krankheit
Definition durch eine Krankheit hervorgerufen die Störung oder Einschränkung der normalen körperlichen oder seelischen Funktionen

Where the eye mixes krankhaft and Krankheit

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
krankhaft
9 ch
Krankheit

Look-alike desk: krankhaft vs Krankheit

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: krankhaft is [ˈkʁaŋkhaft] while Krankheit is [ˈkʁaŋkhaɪ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

krankhaft is recorded at frequency rank #38,236, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁaŋkhaft]. Krankheit is at rank #2,163, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁaŋkhaɪ̯t].

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 40399, this pair ranks #1,509,613 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of krankhaft vs Krankheit

Shared letters: ahknrt. Private to "krankhaft": f. Private to "Krankheit": ei.

"krankhaft" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCCVCC  ·  "Krankheit" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • krankhaftkarnkhaft · kkrankhaft · kraknhaft · kranhkaft · krankahft · krankhafft · krankhaftt · krankhatf
  • Krankheitkarnkheit · kkrankheit · kraknheit · kranhkeit · krankehit · krankheitt · krankheti · krankhheit

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "krankhaft" for "Krankheit" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "krankhaft" is an adjective and "Krankheit" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "krankhaft" or "Krankheit"?
"Krankheit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,163 in our German list, against #38,236 for "krankhaft". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "krankhaft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Krankheit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,509,613 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "krankhaft" and "Krankheit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "krankhaft vs krankhafte". 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 #1,509,613 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