PilotvsPilzTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,206
“Pilot” frequency rank
#9,962
“Pilz” frequency rank
15168
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pilot Pilz
Definition Person, die ein Flugzeug oder ein ähnliches Flugobjekt steuert aus schlauchförmigen Fäden bestehender Organismus ohne Blattgrün (Reich Fungi); hat sowohl tierische als auch pflanzliche Eigenschaften

Where the eye mixes Pilot and Pilz

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

5 ch
Pilot
4 ch
Pilz

Visual trap between Pilot and Pilz

A purely visual mix-up. Pilot ([piˈloːt]) and Pilz ([pɪlt͡s]) 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 15168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pilot is recorded at frequency rank #5,206, classified as anoun, pronounced [piˈloːt]. Pilz is at rank #9,962, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɪlt͡s].

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 15168, this pair ranks #1,945,894 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pilot vs Pilz

Shared letters: ilp. Private to "Pilot": ot. Private to "Pilz": z.

"Pilot" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Pilz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pilotiplot · pillot · pilott · pilto · piolt · pliot · ppilot
  • Pilziplz · pillz · pilzz · pizl · pliz · ppilz

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Pilot" for "Pilz" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([piˈloːt] versus [pɪlt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Pilot" or "Pilz"?
"Pilot" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,206 in our German list, against #9,962 for "Pilz". 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 "Pilot" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pilz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,945,894 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pilot" and "Pilz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pig vs Pilz". 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 #1,945,894 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