pievsPixelWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,870
“pie” frequency rank
#13,911
“Pixel” frequency rank
38781
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pie Pixel
Definition ein herzhaftes oder würziges Gebäck, wie beispielsweise eine Pastete kleinstes Bildelement einer digitalen Rastergrafik

Where the eye mixes pie and Pixel

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
pie
5 ch
Pixel

Why the eye confuses pie with Pixel

A purely visual mix-up. pie ([paɪ]) and Pixel ([ˈpɪksl̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pie is recorded at frequency rank #24,870, classified as anoun, pronounced [paɪ]. Pixel is at rank #13,911, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɪksl̩].

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 38781, this pair ranks #1,554,783 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pie vs Pixel

Shared letters: eip. Private to "pie": -. Private to "Pixel": lx.

"pie" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "Pixel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pixelipxel · piexl · pixell · pixle · pixxel · ppixel · pxiel

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pie" for "Pixel" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([paɪ] versus [ˈpɪksl̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pie" or "Pixel"?
"Pixel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,911 in our German list, against #24,870 for "pie". 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 "pie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pixel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,554,783 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pie" and "Pixel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pie 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 #1,554,783 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