Which to use
“sinkender” and “stinkende” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,412
- “sinkender” frequency rank
- #44,254
- “stinkende” frequency rank
- 82666
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sinkender | stinkende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs sinkend | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stinkend |
Where the eye mixes sinkender and stinkende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. sinkender (CVCCVCCVC) and stinkende (CCVCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses sinkender with stinkende
A purely visual mix-up. sinkender ([ˈzɪŋkn̩dɐ]) and stinkende ([ˈʃtɪŋkn̩də]) 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 8 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82666, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sinkender is recorded at frequency rank #38,412, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɪŋkn̩dɐ]. stinkende is at rank #44,254, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtɪŋkn̩də].
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 82666, this pair ranks #153,150 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sinkender vs stinkende
Shared letters: deikns. Private to "sinkender": r. Private to "stinkende": t.
"sinkender" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "stinkende" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sinkender" for "stinkende" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sinkender" vs "stinkende" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sinkender" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stinkende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #153,150 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sinkender" and "stinkende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "singenden vs sinkender". 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 #153,150 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.