preistvspressConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#38,344
“preist” frequency rank
#8,925
“press” frequency rank
47269
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature preist press
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs preisen 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pressen

Where the eye mixes preist and press

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

6 ch
preist
5 ch
press

Why the eye confuses preist with press

A purely visual mix-up. preist ([pʁaɪ̯st]) and press ([pʁɛs]) 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 47269, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

preist is recorded at frequency rank #38,344, classified as averb, pronounced [pʁaɪ̯st]. press is at rank #8,925, tagged as averb, pronounced [pʁɛs].

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 47269, this pair ranks #1,290,272 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of preist vs press

Shared letters: eprs. Private to "preist": it. Private to "press": -.

"preist" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC  ·  "press" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • preistperist · ppreist · preisst · preistt · preits · presit · priest · prreist
  • pressperss · ppress · pres · preß · prress · prses · rpess

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "preist" and "press" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pʁaɪ̯st] versus [pʁɛs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "preist" or "press"?
"press" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,925 in our German list, against #38,344 for "preist". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "preist" and "press" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "preist" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "press" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,290,272 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "preist" and "press" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "preist vs presst". 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 #1,290,272 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