Which to use
“Sire” and “spice” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,488
- “Sire” frequency rank
- #32,775
- “spice” frequency rank
- 81263
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Sire | spice |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | veraltete (französische) Höflichkeitsanrede für Männer, insbesondere oder ausschließlich dem König/Kaiser vorbehalten | Teile von Pflanzen, die wegen ihres natürlichen Gehaltes an Geschmacks- und Geruchsstoffen als würzende oder geschmacksgebende Zutaten bei der Zubereitung von Speisen und Getränken aller Art eingesetzt werden |
Where the eye mixes Sire and spice
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Sire runs 4 letters (CVCV) against spice's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Sire and spice
A purely visual mix-up. Sire ([ziːɐ̯]) and spice ([spaɪs]) 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 81263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Sire is recorded at frequency rank #48,488, classified as anoun, pronounced [ziːɐ̯]. spice is at rank #32,775, tagged as anoun, pronounced [spaɪs].
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 81263, this pair ranks #179,217 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Sire vs spice
Shared letters: eis. Private to "Sire": r. Private to "spice": cp.
"Sire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "spice" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Sire" for "spice" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Sire" or "spice"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Sire" and "spice" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Sire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spice" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #179,217 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Sire" and "spice" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sil 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 #179,217 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.