Which to use
“kritisch” and “kritische” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,465
- “kritisch” frequency rank
- #4,216
- “kritische” frequency rank
- 7681
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kritisch | kritische |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bedrohlich, entscheidend | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kritisch |
Where the eye mixes kritisch and kritische
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. kritisch runs 8 letters (CCVCVCCC) against kritische's 9 (CCVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: kritisch vs kritische
A purely visual mix-up. kritisch ([ˈkʁiːtɪʃ]) and kritische ([ˈkʁiːtɪʃə]) 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) - “kritisch” sits inside “kritische”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kritisch is recorded at frequency rank #3,465, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁiːtɪʃ]. kritische is at rank #4,216, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkʁiːtɪʃə].
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 7681, this pair ranks #1,987,303 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kritisch vs kritische
Shared letters: chikrst. Private to "kritisch": -. Private to "kritische": e.
"kritisch" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCC · "kritische" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kritisch" and "kritische" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "kritisch" or "kritische"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kritisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kritische" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,987,303 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kritisch" and "kritische" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kritische vs kritischem". 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 #1,987,303 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.