miesvsmixedConfusable pair

Quick tell: mies is a adjective, mixed is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mies” is an adjective and “mixed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,597
“mies” frequency rank
#17,990
“mixed” frequency rank
26587
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mies mixed
Definition auf verdrießlicher, ärgerlicher, ablehnender Art und Weise schlecht; wertlos, elend, übel Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs mix

Where the eye mixes mies and mixed

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

4 ch
mies
5 ch
mixed

Look-alike desk: mies vs mixed

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mies is [miːs] while mixed is [mɪkst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26587, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mies is recorded at frequency rank #8,597, classified as anadj, pronounced [miːs]. mixed is at rank #17,990, tagged as averb, pronounced [mɪkst].

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 26587, this pair ranks #1,815,765 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mies vs mixed

Shared letters: eim. Private to "mies": s. Private to "mixed": dx.

"mies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "mixed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • miesimes · meis · miess · mise · mmies
  • mixedimxed · miexd · mixde · mixedd · mixxed · mmixed · mxied

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mies" and "mixed" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mies" is an adjective and "mixed" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "mies" vs "mixed" - which ranks higher?
"mies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,597 in our German list, against #17,990 for "mixed". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mixed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,815,765 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mies" and "mixed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mile vs mixed". 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 #1,815,765 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