SeuchevsSuchtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,545
“Seuche” frequency rank
#803
“Sucht” frequency rank
17348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Seuche Sucht
Definition Infektionskrankheit, die in der Form einer Epidemie oder in der Form einer Pandemie bei Mensch oder Tier auftritt Abhängigkeit von Substanzen oder Tätigkeiten

Where the eye mixes Seuche and Sucht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Seuche
5 ch
Sucht

Look-alike desk: Seuche vs Sucht

A purely visual mix-up. Seuche ([ˈzɔɪ̯çə]) and Sucht ([zʊxt]) 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 17348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Seuche is recorded at frequency rank #16,545, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯çə]. Sucht is at rank #803, tagged as anoun, pronounced [zʊxt].

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 17348, this pair ranks #1,928,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Seuche vs Sucht

Shared letters: chsu. Private to "Seuche": e. Private to "Sucht": t.

"Seuche" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "Sucht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Seucheesuche · secuhe · seucche · seuceh · seuchhe · seuhce · sseuche · sueche
  • Suchtscuht · ssucht · succht · suchht · suchtt · sucth · suhct · uscht

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Seuche" and "Sucht" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɔɪ̯çə] versus [zʊxt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Seuche" or "Sucht" show up more?
"Sucht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #803 in our German list, against #16,545 for "Seuche". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Seuche" and "Sucht" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Seuche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sucht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,928,178 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Seuche" and "Sucht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seuche vs Seuchen". 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 #1,928,178 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