paradoxvsParadoxonTell them apart

Quick tell: paradox is a adjective, Paradoxon is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“paradox” is an adjective and “Paradoxon” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,247
“paradox” frequency rank
#31,725
“Paradoxon” frequency rank
47972
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paradox Paradoxon
Definition einen unauflösbaren Widerspruch enthaltend durch gängige Logik unauflösbarer Widerspruch

Where the eye mixes paradox and Paradoxon

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. paradox runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against Paradoxon's 9 (CVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
paradox
9 ch
Paradoxon

Why the eye confuses paradox with Paradoxon

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: paradox is [paʁaˈdɔks] while Paradoxon is [paˈʁaːdɔksɔn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “paradox” sits inside “Paradoxon”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47972, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paradox is recorded at frequency rank #16,247, classified as anadj, pronounced [paʁaˈdɔks]. Paradoxon is at rank #31,725, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paˈʁaːdɔksɔn].

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 47972, this pair ranks #1,265,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of paradox vs Paradoxon

Shared letters: adoprx. Private to "paradox": -. Private to "Paradoxon": n.

"paradox" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "Paradoxon" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paradox ← apradox · paardox · paraddox · paradoxx · paradxo · paraodx · pardaox · parradox
  • Paradoxon ← apradoxon · paardoxon · paraddoxon · paradooxn · paradoxno · paradoxonn · paradoxxon · paradxoon

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "paradox" for "Paradoxon" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "paradox" is an adjective and "Paradoxon" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "paradox" or "Paradoxon" show up more?
"paradox" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,247 in our German list, against #31,725 for "Paradoxon". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "paradox" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Paradoxon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,265,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "paradox" and "Paradoxon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Paraden vs paradox". 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 #1,265,405 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