peakvsPeinWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,363
“peak” frequency rank
#47,643
“Pein” frequency rank
68006
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature peak Pein
Definition der Punkt eines Berges; Gipfel, Spitze, Bergspitze, Gipfelpunkt Schmerz, Qual

Where the eye mixes peak and Pein

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
peak
4 ch
Pein

Look-alike desk: peak vs Pein

A purely visual mix-up. peak ([piːk]) and Pein ([paɪ̯n]) 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 68006, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

peak is recorded at frequency rank #20,363, classified as anoun, pronounced [piːk]. Pein is at rank #47,643, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paɪ̯n].

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 68006, this pair ranks #521,750 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of peak vs Pein

Shared letters: ep. Private to "peak": ak. Private to "Pein": in.

"peak" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Pein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peakepak · paek · peakk · peka · ppeak
  • Peinepin · peinn · peni · ppein

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "peak" and "Pein" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([piːk] versus [paɪ̯n]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "peak" or "Pein" show up more?
"peak" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,363 in our German list, against #47,643 for "Pein". 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 "peak" and "Pein" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "peak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pein" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #521,750 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "peak" and "Pein" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pein vs pig". 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 #521,750 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