KrisvsKursWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,137
“Kris” frequency rank
#1,894
“Kurs” frequency rank
34031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kris Kurs
Definition Dolch mit besonderer, geflammter Klinge eine eingeschlagene, vorgeschriebene oder aufgezeichnete Richtung einer Person, eines Fahrzeuges, eines Flugzeugs oder eines Schiffes

Where the eye mixes Kris and Kurs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Kris
4 ch
Kurs

Look-alike desk: Kris vs Kurs

A purely visual mix-up. Kris ([kʁiːs]) and Kurs ([kʊʁs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kris is recorded at frequency rank #32,137, classified as anoun, pronounced [kʁiːs]. Kurs is at rank #1,894, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʊʁs].

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 34031, this pair ranks #1,672,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kris vs Kurs

Shared letters: krs. Private to "Kris": i. Private to "Kurs": u.

"Kris" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Kurs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kriskirs · kkris · kriss · krris · krsi · rkis
  • Kurskkurs · krus · kurrs · kurss · kusr · ukrs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kris" and "Kurs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kʁiːs] versus [kʊʁs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Kris" or "Kurs" show up more?
"Kurs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,894 in our German list, against #32,137 for "Kris". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kris" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,672,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kris" and "Kurs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Knies vs Kris". 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 #1,672,543 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