PestvsPisTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,763
“Pest” frequency rank
#38,949
“Pis” frequency rank
47712
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pest Pis
Definition hochgradig ansteckende Krankheit, die durch das Bakterium Yersinia pestis verursacht wird. Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Pi

Where the eye mixes Pest and Pis

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

4 ch
Pest
3 ch
Pis

Why the eye confuses Pest with Pis

A purely visual mix-up. Pest ([pɛst]) and Pis ([piːs]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47712, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pest is recorded at frequency rank #8,763, classified as anoun, pronounced [pɛst]. Pis is at rank #38,949, tagged as anoun, pronounced [piːs].

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 47712, this pair ranks #1,274,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pest vs Pis

Shared letters: ps. Private to "Pest": et. Private to "Pis": i.

"Pest" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Pis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pestepst · pesst · pestt · pets · ppest · pset

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Pest" and "Pis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɛst] versus [piːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Pest" or "Pis"?
"Pest" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,763 in our German list, against #38,949 for "Pis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,274,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pest" and "Pis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pis vs PMS". 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 #1,274,745 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