needsvsNeidTell them apart

Which to use

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

#44,821
“needs” frequency rank
#9,600
“Neid” frequency rank
54421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature needs Neid
Definition Plural des Substantivs need der intensive negative Gefühlszustand von Menschen, wenn sie den Besitz, Erfolg, den körperlichen Vorzug oder das Glück eines anderen beobachten können, das sie nicht haben, aber ihm missgönnen.

Where the eye mixes needs and Neid

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

5 ch
needs
4 ch
Neid

Look-alike desk: needs vs Neid

A purely visual mix-up. needs ([niːdz]) and Neid ([naɪ̯t]) 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 54421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

needs is recorded at frequency rank #44,821, classified as anoun, pronounced [niːdz]. Neid is at rank #9,600, tagged as anoun, pronounced [naɪ̯t].

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 54421, this pair ranks #1,019,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of needs vs Neid

Shared letters: den. Private to "needs": s. Private to "Neid": i.

"needs" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "Neid" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • needsneds · needds · needss · neesd · nneeds
  • Neidenid · nedi · neidd · nied · nneid

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "needs" and "Neid" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([niːdz] versus [naɪ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "needs" vs "Neid" - which ranks higher?
"Neid" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,600 in our German list, against #44,821 for "needs". 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 "needs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Neid" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,019,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "needs" and "Neid" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "needs vs nes". 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 #1,019,591 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