nitvsnoxTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,169
“nit” frequency rank
#46,886
“nox” frequency rank
62055
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nit nox
Definition Nisse die Nacht

Where the eye mixes nit and nox

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
nit
3 ch
nox

Visual trap between nit and nox

A purely visual mix-up. nit ([nɪt]) and nox ([nɔks]) 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 62055, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nit is recorded at frequency rank #15,169, classified as anoun, pronounced [nɪt]. nox is at rank #46,886, tagged as anoun, pronounced [nɔks].

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 62055, this pair ranks #726,833 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nit vs nox

Shared letters: n. Private to "nit": it. Private to "nox": ox.

"nit" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nox" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nit" and "nox" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([nɪt] versus [nɔks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "nit" or "nox" show up more?
"nit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,169 in our German list, against #46,886 for "nox". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "nit" and "nox" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nox" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #726,833 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nit" and "nox" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "node vs nox". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #726,833 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