kühltvskürztTell them apart

Which to use

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

#29,208
“kühlt” frequency rank
#44,034
“kürzt” frequency rank
73242
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kühlt kürzt
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kühlen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kürzen

Where the eye mixes kühlt and kürzt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kühlt and kürzt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
kühlt
5 ch
kürzt

Look-alike desk: kühlt vs kürzt

A purely visual mix-up. kühlt ([kyːlt]) and kürzt ([kʏʁt͡st]) 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 73242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kühlt is recorded at frequency rank #29,208, classified as averb, pronounced [kyːlt]. kürzt is at rank #44,034, tagged as averb, pronounced [kʏʁt͡st].

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 73242, this pair ranks #365,750 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kühlt vs kürzt

Shared letters: ktü. Private to "kühlt": hl. Private to "kürzt": rz.

"kühlt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "kürzt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kühlt" and "kürzt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kyːlt] versus [kʏʁt͡st]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kühlt" or "kürzt"?
"kühlt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,208 in our German list, against #44,034 for "kürzt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "kühlt" and "kürzt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kühlt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kürzt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #365,750 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kühlt" and "kürzt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kurie vs kürzt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #365,750 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