Which to use
“kühlen” is a verb and “kühn” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,125
- “kühlen” frequency rank
- #12,751
- “kühn” frequency rank
- 22876
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kühlen | kühn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | kühl machen; Temperatur (von etwas, das warm oder heiß ist) vermindern | der Gefahr trotzend und ihr entschlossen entgegentretend |
Where the eye mixes kühlen and kühn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses kühlen with kühn
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kühlen is [ˈkyːlən] while kühn is [kyːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kühlen is recorded at frequency rank #10,125, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkyːlən]. kühn is at rank #12,751, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kyːn].
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 22876, this pair ranks #1,868,604 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kühlen vs kühn
Shared letters: hknü. Private to "kühlen": el. Private to "kühn": -.
"kühlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "kühn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kühlen" and "kühn" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "kühlen" vs "kühn" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "kühlen" and "kühn" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kühlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kühn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,868,604 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kühlen" and "kühn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kucken vs kühlen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,868,604 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.