säuftvsstuftWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#44,266
“säuft” frequency rank
#37,231
“stuft” frequency rank
81497
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature säuft stuft
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs saufen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stufen

Where the eye mixes säuft and stuft

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. säuft (CVVCC) and stuft (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
säuft
5 ch
stuft

Look-alike desk: säuft vs stuft

A purely visual mix-up. säuft ([ˈzɔɪ̯ft]) and stuft ([ʃtuːft]) 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 a single letter - ä in “säuft” becomes t in “stuft”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

säuft is recorded at frequency rank #44,266, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯ft]. stuft is at rank #37,231, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtuːft].

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 81497, this pair ranks #174,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of säuft vs stuft

Shared letters: fstu. Private to "säuft": ä. Private to "stuft": -.

"säuft" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "stuft" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stuft ← sstuft · stfut · sttuft · stufft · stuftt · stutf · sutft · tsuft

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "säuft" for "stuft" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɔɪ̯ft] versus [ʃtuːft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "säuft" or "stuft"?
"stuft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,231 in our German list, against #44,266 for "säuft". 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 "säuft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stuft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #174,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "säuft" and "stuft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "säuft vs surft". 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 #174,682 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