kriminellvskriminellesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,967
“kriminell” frequency rank
#47,544
“kriminelles” frequency rank
65511
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kriminell kriminelles
Definition straffällig, einer Straftat schuldig Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kriminell

Where the eye mixes kriminell and kriminelles

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. kriminell runs 9 letters (CCVCVCVCC) against kriminelles's 11 (CCVCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
kriminell
11 ch
kriminelles

Look-alike desk: kriminell vs kriminelles

A purely visual mix-up. kriminell ([kʁimiˈnɛl]) and kriminelles ([kʁimiˈnɛləs]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “kriminell” sits inside “kriminelles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kriminell is recorded at frequency rank #17,967, classified as anadj, pronounced [kʁimiˈnɛl]. kriminelles is at rank #47,544, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kʁimiˈnɛləs].

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 65511, this pair ranks #604,368 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kriminell vs kriminelles

Shared letters: eiklmnr. Private to "kriminell": -. Private to "kriminelles": s.

"kriminell" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCC  ·  "kriminelles" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kriminellkirminell · kkriminell · kriimnell · krimienll · kriminel · kriminlel · kriminnell · krimminell
  • kriminelleskirminelles · kkriminelles · kriimnelles · krimienlles · kriminelels · krimineles · kriminelless · kriminellse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kriminell" and "kriminelles" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kʁimiˈnɛl] versus [kʁimiˈnɛləs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "kriminell" or "kriminelles" show up more?
"kriminell" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,967 in our German list, against #47,544 for "kriminelles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kriminell" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kriminelles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #604,368 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kriminell" and "kriminelles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Krimineller vs kriminelles". 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 #604,368 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