lachtvslähmtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,827
“lacht” frequency rank
#49,876
“lähmt” frequency rank
53703
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lacht lähmt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lachen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lähmen

Where the eye mixes lacht and lähmt

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

5 ch
lacht
5 ch
lähmt

Why the eye confuses lacht with lähmt

A purely visual mix-up. lacht ([laxt]) and lähmt ([lɛːmt]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53703, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lacht is recorded at frequency rank #3,827, classified as averb, pronounced [laxt]. lähmt is at rank #49,876, tagged as averb, pronounced [lɛːmt].

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 53703, this pair ranks #1,047,660 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lacht vs lähmt

Shared letters: hlt. Private to "lacht": ac. Private to "lähmt": mä.

"lacht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "lähmt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lacht ← alcht · laccht · lachht · lachtt · lacth · lahct · lcaht · llacht

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lacht" and "lähmt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([laxt] versus [lɛːmt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lacht" or "lähmt"?
"lacht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,827 in our German list, against #49,876 for "lähmt". 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 "lacht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lähmt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,047,660 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lacht" and "lähmt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lähmt vs lame". 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 #1,047,660 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