SeilvsStilsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,937
“Seil” frequency rank
#26,184
“Stils” frequency rank
37121
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Seil Stils
Definition aus miteinander verdrillten Fäden, Drähten oder Ähnlichem bestehendes Gebilde Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stil

Where the eye mixes Seil and Stils

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Seil
5 ch
Stils

Why the eye confuses Seil with Stils

A purely visual mix-up. Seil ([zaɪ̯l]) and Stils ([ʃtiːls]) 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 37121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Seil is recorded at frequency rank #10,937, classified as anoun, pronounced [zaɪ̯l]. Stils is at rank #26,184, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtiːls].

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 37121, this pair ranks #1,598,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Seil vs Stils

Shared letters: ils. Private to "Seil": e. Private to "Stils": t.

"Seil" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Stils" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Seilesil · seill · seli · siel · sseil
  • Stilssitls · sstils · stills · stilss · stisl · stlis · sttils · tsils

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Seil" for "Stils" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([zaɪ̯l] versus [ʃtiːls]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Seil" vs "Stils" - which ranks higher?
"Seil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,937 in our German list, against #26,184 for "Stils". 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 "Seil" and "Stils" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Seil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stils" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,598,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Seil" and "Stils" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs Stils". 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 #1,598,316 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