PeinvsprixTell them apart

Which to use

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

#47,643
“Pein” frequency rank
#11,311
“prix” frequency rank
58954
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pein prix
Definition Schmerz, Qual der Preis

Where the eye mixes Pein and prix

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

4 ch
Pein
4 ch
prix

Why the eye confuses Pein with prix

A purely visual mix-up. Pein ([paɪ̯n]) and prix ([pʁi]) 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 58954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pein is recorded at frequency rank #47,643, classified as anoun, pronounced [paɪ̯n]. prix is at rank #11,311, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pʁi].

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 58954, this pair ranks #842,873 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pein vs prix

Shared letters: ip. Private to "Pein": en. Private to "prix": rx.

"Pein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "prix" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Peinepin · peinn · peni · ppein
  • prixpirx · pprix · prixx · prrix · prxi · rpix

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Pein" for "prix" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([paɪ̯n] versus [pʁi]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Pein" or "prix"?
"prix" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,311 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 "Pein" and "prix" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prix" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #842,873 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pein" and "prix" 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 #842,873 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