SektevsSitteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,410
“Sekte” frequency rank
#21,063
“Sitte” frequency rank
35473
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sekte Sitte
Definition von großen Religionsgemeinschaften abgelöste kleine Glaubensgemeinschaft in der Gesellschaft durch Tradition, Brauch und/oder moralische/religiöse Gebote legitimierte soziale Norm

Where the eye mixes Sekte and Sitte

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

5 ch
Sekte
5 ch
Sitte

Why the eye confuses Sekte with Sitte

A purely visual mix-up. Sekte ([ˈzɛktə]) and Sitte ([ˈzɪtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sekte is recorded at frequency rank #14,410, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɛktə]. Sitte is at rank #21,063, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɪtə].

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 35473, this pair ranks #1,639,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sekte vs Sitte

Shared letters: est. Private to "Sekte": k. Private to "Sitte": i.

"Sekte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Sitte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sekteeskte · seket · sekkte · sektte · setke · skete · ssekte
  • Sitteistte · sitet · ssitte · stite

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Sekte" and "Sitte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɛktə] versus [ˈzɪtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Sekte" vs "Sitte" - which ranks higher?
"Sekte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,410 in our German list, against #21,063 for "Sitte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sekte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sitte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,639,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sekte" and "Sitte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sire vs Sitte". 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 #1,639,141 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