PosevsPosseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,877
“Pose” frequency rank
#30,240
“Posse” frequency rank
55117
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pose Posse
Definition schwimmender Hohlkörper oder Körper aus Holz, Kork oder Kunststoff, der an der Angelschnur befestigt wird, um dem beköderten Haken in einer bestimmten Wassertiefe zu halten Bühnenstück, das durch Verwechslungen, Übertreibungen und derbe Komik zum Lachen anregen soll

Where the eye mixes Pose and Posse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Pose
5 ch
Posse

Why the eye confuses Pose with Posse

A purely visual mix-up. Pose ([ˈpoːzə]) and Posse ([ˈpɔsə]) 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 55117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pose is recorded at frequency rank #24,877, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpoːzə]. Posse is at rank #30,240, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɔsə].

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 55117, this pair ranks #992,110 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pose vs Posse

Shared letters: eops. Private to "Pose": -. Private to "Posse": -.

"Pose" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Posse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Poseopse · poes · ppose · psoe
  • Posseopsse · poses · poße · pposse · psose

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Pose" for "Posse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpoːzə] versus [ˈpɔsə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Pose" or "Posse"?
"Pose" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,877 in our German list, against #30,240 for "Posse". 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 "Pose" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Posse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #992,110 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pose" and "Posse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ponte vs Posse". 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 #992,110 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