sickvssintConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#27,489
“sick” frequency rank
#33,815
“sint” frequency rank
61304
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sick sint
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sicken 3. Person Plural Konjunktiv Präsens Aktiv des Verbs esse

Letter map: sick vs sint

Shared letters muted; letters that set sick and sint apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
sick
4 ch
sint

Corpus notes: sick and sint

sick and sint are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61304, 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]. sint is at rank #33,815, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 61304, this pair ranks #754,798 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sick vs sint

Shared letters: is. Private to "sick": ck. Private to "sint": nt.

"sick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "sint" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sickisck · scik · sicck · sickk · sikc · ssick
  • sintisnt · sinnt · sintt · sitn · snit · ssint

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sick" for "sint" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "sick" or "sint"?
"sick" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,489 in our German list, against #33,815 for "sint". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "sick" and "sint".

  • Full dictionary entry for "sick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sint" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #754,798 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sick" and "sint" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs sint". 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 #754,798 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