KriegevsKriegerTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,661
“Kriege” frequency rank
#6,944
“Krieger” frequency rank
9605
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kriege Krieger
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Krieg Person, die im Krieg kämpft

Where the eye mixes Kriege and Krieger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Kriege runs 6 letters (CCVVCV) against Krieger's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Kriege
7 ch
Krieger

Look-alike desk: Kriege vs Krieger

A purely visual mix-up. Kriege ([ˈkʁiːɡə]) and Krieger ([ˈkʁiːɡɐ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Kriege” sits inside “Krieger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9605, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kriege is recorded at frequency rank #2,661, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁiːɡə]. Krieger is at rank #6,944, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁiːɡɐ].

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 9605, this pair ranks #1,979,164 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kriege vs Krieger

Shared letters: egikr. Private to "Kriege": -. Private to "Krieger": -.

"Kriege" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "Krieger" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kriege ← kirege · kkriege · kreige · krieeg · kriegge · krigee · krriege · rkiege
  • Krieger ← kireger · kkrieger · kreiger · krieegr · kriegerr · kriegger · kriegre · krigeer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kriege" and "Krieger" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁiːɡə] versus [ˈkʁiːɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Kriege" or "Krieger" show up more?
"Kriege" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,661 in our German list, against #6,944 for "Krieger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kriege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Krieger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,979,164 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kriege" and "Krieger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krieger vs Kriegers". 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 #1,979,164 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