missenvsmisstWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,697
“missen” frequency rank
#8,755
“misst” frequency rank
30452
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature missen misst
Definition etwas entbehren 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs messen

Where the eye mixes missen and misst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. missen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against misst's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
missen
5 ch
misst

Look-alike desk: missen vs misst

A purely visual mix-up. missen ([ˈmɪsn̩]) and misst ([mɪst]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

missen is recorded at frequency rank #21,697, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɪsn̩]. misst is at rank #8,755, tagged as averb, pronounced [mɪst].

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 30452, this pair ranks #1,747,558 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of missen vs misst

Shared letters: ims. Private to "missen": en. Private to "misst": t.

"missen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "misst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • missen ← imssen · misen · misesn · missenn · missne · mißen · mmissen · msisen
  • misst ← imsst · misstt · mists · mißt · mmisst · msist

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "missen" and "misst" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɪsn̩] versus [mɪst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "missen" vs "misst" - which ranks higher?
"misst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,755 in our German list, against #21,697 for "missen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "missen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "misst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,747,558 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "missen" and "misst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Madsen vs missen". 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 #1,747,558 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