Which to use
“kreischen” is a verb and “kritischen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,141
- “kreischen” frequency rank
- #5,731
- “kritischen” frequency rank
- 36872
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kreischen | kritischen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen Schrei mit lauter, hoher Stimme ausstoßen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kritisch |
Where the eye mixes kreischen and kritischen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. kreischen runs 9 letters (CCVVCCCVC) against kritischen's 10 (CCVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses kreischen with kritischen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kreischen is [ˈkʁaɪ̯ʃn̩] while kritischen is [ˈkʁiːtɪʃn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kreischen is recorded at frequency rank #31,141, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁaɪ̯ʃn̩]. kritischen is at rank #5,731, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁiːtɪʃn̩].
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 36872, this pair ranks #1,604,569 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kreischen vs kritischen
Shared letters: cehiknrs. Private to "kreischen": -. Private to "kritischen": t.
"kreischen" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCCCVC · "kritischen" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- kreischen ← kerischen · kkreischen · kreicshen · kreiscchen · kreiscehn · kreischenn · kreischhen · kreischne
- kritischen ← kirtischen · kkritischen · kriitschen · kriticshen · kritiscchen · kritiscehn · kritischenn · kritischhen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kreischen" and "kritischen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "kreischen" vs "kritischen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kreischen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kritischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,604,569 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kreischen" and "kritischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kreischen vs Kreuzchen". 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 #1,604,569 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.