pissvspisstWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#37,133
“piss” frequency rank
#26,999
“pisst” frequency rank
64132
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature piss pisst
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pissen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pissen

Where the eye mixes piss and pisst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. piss runs 4 letters (CVCC) against pisst's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
piss
5 ch
pisst

Why the eye confuses piss with pisst

A purely visual mix-up. piss ([pɪs]) and pisst ([pɪst]) 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 extra letter(s) - “piss” sits inside “pisst”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

piss is recorded at frequency rank #37,133, classified as averb, pronounced [pɪs]. pisst is at rank #26,999, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɪst].

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 64132, this pair ranks #652,296 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of piss vs pisst

Shared letters: ips. Private to "piss": -. Private to "pisst": t.

"piss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "pisst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • piss ← ipss · piß · ppiss · psis
  • pisst ← ipsst · pisstt · pist · pists · pißt · ppisst · psist

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "piss" and "pisst" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɪs] versus [pɪst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "piss" or "pisst"?
"pisst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,999 in our German list, against #37,133 for "piss". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "piss" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pisst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #652,296 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "piss" and "pisst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "piss 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 #652,296 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