kühltvsküsstConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#29,208
“kühlt” frequency rank
#14,855
“küsst” frequency rank
44063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kühlt küsst
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kühlen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs küssen

Where the eye mixes kühlt and küsst

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

Look-alike desk: kühlt vs küsst

A purely visual mix-up. kühlt ([kyːlt]) and küsst ([kʏst]) 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 44063, 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]. küsst is at rank #14,855, tagged as averb, pronounced [kʏst].

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 44063, this pair ranks #1,398,245 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kühlt vs küsst

Shared letters: ktü. Private to "kühlt": hl. Private to "küsst": s.

"kühlt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "küsst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kühlt" for "küsst" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kyːlt] versus [kʏst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "kühlt" or "küsst" show up more?
"küsst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,855 in our German list, against #29,208 for "kühlt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "kühlt" and "küsst" 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 "küsst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,398,245 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kühlt" and "küsst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "killt vs kühlt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,398,245 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