putzigvsputztWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: putzig is a adjective, putzt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“putzig” is an adjective and “putzt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,152
“putzig” frequency rank
#23,276
“putzt” frequency rank
63428
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature putzig putzt
Definition Entzücken auslösend 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs putzen

Where the eye mixes putzig and putzt

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

6 ch
putzig
5 ch
putzt

Look-alike desk: putzig vs putzt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: putzig is [ˈpʊt͡sɪç] while putzt is [pʊt͡st]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63428, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

putzig is recorded at frequency rank #40,152, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpʊt͡sɪç]. putzt is at rank #23,276, tagged as averb, pronounced [pʊt͡st].

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 63428, this pair ranks #677,201 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of putzig vs putzt

Shared letters: ptuz. Private to "putzig": gi. Private to "putzt": -.

"putzig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "putzt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • putzigpputzig · ptuzig · putizg · puttzig · putzgi · putzigg · putzzig · puztig
  • putztpputzt · ptuzt · puttzt · putztt · putzzt · puztt · uptzt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "putzig" and "putzt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "putzig" is an adjective and "putzt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "putzig" or "putzt" show up more?
"putzt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,276 in our German list, against #40,152 for "putzig". 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 "putzig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "putzt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #677,201 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "putzig" and "putzt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Putze vs putzig". 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 #677,201 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