puzzlesvssmokingConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#49,986
“puzzles” frequency rank
#39,030
“smoking” frequency rank
89016
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature puzzles smoking
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs puzzle Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs smoke

Letter map: puzzles vs smoking

Shared letters muted; letters that set puzzles and smoking apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. puzzles (CVCCCVC) and smoking (CCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
puzzles
7 ch
smoking

Corpus notes: puzzles and smoking

puzzles and smoking are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 7 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89016, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

puzzles is recorded at frequency rank #49,986, classified as averb, pronounced […]. smoking is at rank #39,030, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 89016, this pair ranks #61,860 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of puzzles vs smoking

Shared letters: s. Private to "puzzles": elpuz. Private to "smoking": gikmno.

"puzzles" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "smoking" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • puzzlesppuzzles · puzles · puzlzes · puzzels · puzzless · puzzlles · puzzlse · pzuzles
  • smokingmsoking · smkoing · smmoking · smoikng · smokign · smokingg · smokinng · smokking

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "puzzles" for "smoking" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 7 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "puzzles" vs "smoking" - which ranks higher?
"smoking" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,030 in our German list, against #49,986 for "puzzles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "puzzles" vs "smoking" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "puzzles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "smoking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #61,860 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "puzzles" and "smoking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "purpose vs puzzles". 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 #61,860 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