KreidevsKreisTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,959
“Kreide” frequency rank
#861
“Kreis” frequency rank
19820
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kreide Kreis
Definition weicher, weißer Kalkstein (Hauptbestandteil Kalziumkarbonat) geometrischer Ort aller Punkte, die von einem gegebenen Punkt, dem (Kreis-)Mittelpunkt, den gleichen Abstand haben, genannt (Kreis-)Radius

Where the eye mixes Kreide and Kreis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kreide runs 6 letters (CCVVCV) against Kreis's 5 (CCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Kreide
5 ch
Kreis

Visual trap between Kreide and Kreis

A purely visual mix-up. Kreide ([ˈkʁaɪ̯də]) and Kreis ([kʁaɪ̯s]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kreide is recorded at frequency rank #18,959, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁaɪ̯də]. Kreis is at rank #861, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʁaɪ̯s].

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 19820, this pair ranks #1,904,246 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kreide vs Kreis

Shared letters: eikr. Private to "Kreide": d. Private to "Kreis": s.

"Kreide" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "Kreis" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kreide ← keride · kkreide · kredie · kreidde · kreied · kriede · krreide · rkeide
  • Kreis ← keris · kkreis · kreiss · kresi · kries · krreis · rkeis

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kreide" and "Kreis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁaɪ̯də] versus [kʁaɪ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kreide" or "Kreis"?
"Kreis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #861 in our German list, against #18,959 for "Kreide". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kreide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kreis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,904,246 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kreide" and "Kreis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krebse vs Kreide". 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 #1,904,246 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