rauchtvsrauschtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,393
“raucht” frequency rank
#29,300
“rauscht” frequency rank
43693
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raucht rauscht
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rauchen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rauschen

Where the eye mixes raucht and rauscht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. raucht runs 6 letters (CVVCCC) against rauscht's 7 (CVVCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
raucht
7 ch
rauscht

Visual trap between raucht and rauscht

A purely visual mix-up. raucht ([ʁaʊ̯xt]) and rauscht ([ʁaʊ̯ʃt]) 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 43693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raucht is recorded at frequency rank #14,393, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁaʊ̯xt]. rauscht is at rank #29,300, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁaʊ̯ʃt].

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 43693, this pair ranks #1,409,928 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of raucht vs rauscht

Shared letters: achrtu. Private to "raucht": -. Private to "rauscht": s.

"raucht" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC  ·  "rauscht" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rauchtarucht · racuht · rauccht · rauchht · rauchtt · raucth · rauhct · rraucht
  • rauschtaruscht · rasucht · raucsht · rausccht · rauschht · rauschtt · rauscth · raushct

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "raucht" and "rauscht" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʁaʊ̯xt] versus [ʁaʊ̯ʃt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "raucht" or "rauscht" show up more?
"raucht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,393 in our German list, against #29,300 for "rauscht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "raucht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rauscht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,409,928 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "raucht" and "rauscht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rauscher vs rauscht". 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 #1,409,928 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