Which to use
“Kreisel” is a noun and “krempel” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,939
- “Kreisel” frequency rank
- #45,399
- “krempel” frequency rank
- 72338
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kreisel | krempel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein kleines Kinderspielzeug, das sich auf einer Spitze im Kreis dreht, wenn man es mit dem entsprechenden Schwung versieht | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs krempeln |
Where the eye mixes Kreisel and krempel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Kreisel and krempel
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kreisel is [ˈkʁaɪ̯zl̩] while krempel is [ˈkʁɛmpl̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72338, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kreisel is recorded at frequency rank #26,939, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁaɪ̯zl̩]. krempel is at rank #45,399, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʁɛmpl̩].
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 72338, this pair ranks #391,126 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Kreisel vs krempel
Shared letters: eklr. Private to "Kreisel": is. Private to "krempel": mp.
"Kreisel" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "krempel" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Kreisel" for "krempel" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Kreisel" or "krempel"?
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 "Kreisel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "krempel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #391,126 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kreisel" and "krempel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "krempel vs Krüppel". 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 #391,126 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.