Which to use
“sinnen” and “stinken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,747
- “sinnen” frequency rank
- #22,520
- “stinken” frequency rank
- 38267
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sinnen | stinken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nachdenken, grübeln | (sehr) übel schlecht riechen, üblen Geruch verbreiten |
Where the eye mixes sinnen and stinken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sinnen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against stinken's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between sinnen and stinken
A purely visual mix-up. sinnen ([ˈzɪnən]) and stinken ([ˈʃtɪŋkn̩]) 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 38267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sinnen is recorded at frequency rank #15,747, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪnən]. stinken is at rank #22,520, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɪŋkn̩].
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 38267, this pair ranks #1,568,366 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sinnen vs stinken
Shared letters: eins. Private to "sinnen": -. Private to "stinken": kt.
"sinnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "stinken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sinnen" for "stinken" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sinnen" or "stinken"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sinnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stinken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,568,366 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sinnen" and "stinken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs stinken". 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 #1,568,366 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.