Which to use
“peinlichen” and “peinliches” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,093
- “peinlichen” frequency rank
- #49,947
- “peinliches” frequency rank
- 72040
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | peinlichen | peinliches |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs peinlich | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs peinlich |
Where the eye mixes peinlichen and peinliches
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. peinlichen and peinliches follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses peinlichen with peinliches
A purely visual mix-up. peinlichen ([ˈpaɪ̯nˌlɪçn̩]) and peinliches ([ˈpaɪ̯nˌlɪçəs]) 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 a single letter - n in “peinlichen” becomes s in “peinliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
peinlichen is recorded at frequency rank #22,093, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpaɪ̯nˌlɪçn̩]. peinliches is at rank #49,947, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpaɪ̯nˌlɪçəs].
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 72040, this pair ranks #399,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of peinlichen vs peinliches
Shared letters: cehilnp. Private to "peinlichen": -. Private to "peinliches": s.
"peinlichen" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVC · "peinliches" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- peinlichen ← epinlichen · peilnichen · peinilchen · peinlcihen · peinlicchen · peinlicehn · peinlichenn · peinlichhen
- peinliches ← epinliches · peilniches · peinilches · peinlcihes · peinlicches · peinlicehs · peinlichess · peinlichhes
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "peinlichen" and "peinliches" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "peinlichen" or "peinliches"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "peinlichen" and "peinliches" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "peinlichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "peinliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #399,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "peinlichen" and "peinliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peinlicher vs peinliches". 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 #399,553 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.