meidetvsmeinstWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,802
“meidet” frequency rank
#1,360
“meinst” frequency rank
36162
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature meidet meinst
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs meiden 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs meinen

Where the eye mixes meidet and meinst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. meidet (CVVCVC) and meinst (CVVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
meidet
6 ch
meinst

Why the eye confuses meidet with meinst

A purely visual mix-up. meidet ([ˈmaɪ̯dət]) and meinst ([maɪ̯nst]) 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 36162, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

meidet is recorded at frequency rank #34,802, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯dət]. meinst is at rank #1,360, tagged as averb, pronounced [maɪ̯nst].

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 36162, this pair ranks #1,622,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of meidet vs meinst

Shared letters: eimt. Private to "meidet": d. Private to "meinst": ns.

"meidet" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "meinst" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • meidet ← emidet · mediet · meiddet · meidett · meidte · meiedt · miedet · mmeidet
  • meinst ← eminst · meinnst · meinsst · meinstt · meints · meisnt · menist · mienst

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "meidet" and "meinst" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaɪ̯dət] versus [maɪ̯nst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "meidet" or "meinst"?
"meinst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,360 in our German list, against #34,802 for "meidet". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "meidet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "meinst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,622,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "meidet" and "meinst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "meidet vs Melder". 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 #1,622,469 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