KrätzevsKrauseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#44,028
“Krätze” frequency rank
#10,683
“Krause” frequency rank
54711
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Krätze Krause
Definition stark juckende Hautkrankheit, die durch sich in die Haut einbohrende Milben verursacht ist welliger oder in Falten gelegter Stoff

Where the eye mixes Krätze and Krause

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Krätze (CCVCCV) and Krause (CCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Krätze
6 ch
Krause

Visual trap between Krätze and Krause

A purely visual mix-up. Krätze ([ˈkʁɛt͡sə]) and Krause ([ˈkʁaʊ̯zə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Krätze is recorded at frequency rank #44,028, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁɛt͡sə]. Krause is at rank #10,683, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁaʊ̯zə].

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 54711, this pair ranks #1,008,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Krätze vs Krause

Shared letters: ekr. Private to "Krätze": tzä. Private to "Krause": asu.

"Krätze" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Krause" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Krause ← karuse · kkrause · krasue · kraues · krausse · krrause · kruase · rkause

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Krätze" for "Krause" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁɛt͡sə] versus [ˈkʁaʊ̯zə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Krätze" or "Krause" show up more?
"Krause" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,683 in our German list, against #44,028 for "Krätze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Krätze" and "Krause" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Krätze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Krause" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,008,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Krätze" and "Krause" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krätze vs Kroate". 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 #1,008,168 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