krassvsKrisWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#3,751
“krass” frequency rank
#32,137
“Kris” frequency rank
35888
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature krass Kris
Definition extrem, besonders intensiv Dolch mit besonderer, geflammter Klinge

Where the eye mixes krass and Kris

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

5 ch
krass
4 ch
Kris

Visual trap between krass and Kris

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: krass is [kʁas] while Kris is [kʁiːs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

krass is recorded at frequency rank #3,751, classified as anadj, pronounced [kʁas]. Kris is at rank #32,137, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʁiːs].

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 35888, this pair ranks #1,629,110 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of krass vs Kris

Shared letters: krs. Private to "krass": a. Private to "Kris": i.

"krass" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Kris" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • krasskarss · kkrass · kras · kraß · krrass · krsas · rkass
  • Kriskirs · kkris · kriss · krris · krsi · rkis

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "krass" for "Kris" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "krass" is an adjective and "Kris" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "krass" or "Kris" show up more?
"krass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,751 in our German list, against #32,137 for "Kris". 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 "krass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,629,110 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "krass" and "Kris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Knies vs Kris". 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 #1,629,110 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