Which to use
“Pest” and “Pos” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,763
- “Pest” frequency rank
- #23,268
- “Pos” frequency rank
- 32031
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Pest | Pos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hochgradig ansteckende Krankheit, die durch das Bakterium Yersinia pestis verursacht wird. | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Po |
Where the eye mixes Pest and Pos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Pest vs Pos
A purely visual mix-up. Pest ([pɛst]) and Pos ([poːs]) 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 32031, 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]. Pos is at rank #23,268, tagged as anoun, pronounced [poːs].
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 32031, this pair ranks #1,716,143 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Pest vs Pos
Shared letters: ps. Private to "Pest": et. Private to "Pos": o.
"Pest" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Pos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Pest ← epst · pesst · pestt · pets · ppest · pset
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Pest" and "Pos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Pest" or "Pos" show up more?
What to do next
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 "Pos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,716,143 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Pest" and "Pos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "PMS vs Pos". 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 #1,716,143 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.