Which to use
“sick” is a verb and “Sinn” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,489
- “sick” frequency rank
- #801
- “Sinn” frequency rank
- 28290
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sick | Sinn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sicken | bestimmte physiologische Fähigkeit zur Wahrnehmung von etwas |
Where the eye mixes sick and Sinn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sick vs Sinn
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sick is [zɪk] while Sinn is [zɪn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28290, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sick is recorded at frequency rank #27,489, classified as averb, pronounced [zɪk]. Sinn is at rank #801, tagged as anoun, pronounced [zɪn].
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 28290, this pair ranks #1,787,421 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sick vs Sinn
Shared letters: is. Private to "sick": ck. Private to "Sinn": n.
"sick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Sinn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sick" for "Sinn" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "sick" or "Sinn" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Sinn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,787,421 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sick" and "Sinn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sick vs Sire". 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 #1,787,421 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.