skinsvsSteinsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#33,820
“skins” frequency rank
#31,806
“Steins” frequency rank
65626
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature skins Steins
Definition Plural des Substantivs skin Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stein

Where the eye mixes skins and Steins

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. skins runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against Steins's 6 (CCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
skins
6 ch
Steins

Why the eye confuses skins with Steins

A purely visual mix-up. skins ([skɪnz]) and Steins ([ʃtaɪ̯ns]) 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 65626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

skins is recorded at frequency rank #33,820, classified as anoun, pronounced [skɪnz]. Steins is at rank #31,806, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtaɪ̯ns].

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 65626, this pair ranks #600,421 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of skins vs Steins

Shared letters: ins. Private to "skins": k. Private to "Steins": et.

"skins" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Steins" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • skins ← ksins · sikns · skinns · skinss · skisn · skkins · sknis · sskins
  • Steins ← setins · ssteins · steinns · steinss · steisn · stenis · stiens · stteins

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "skins" for "Steins" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([skɪnz] versus [ʃtaɪ̯ns]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "skins" vs "Steins" - which ranks higher?
"Steins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,806 in our German list, against #33,820 for "skins". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "skins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Steins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #600,421 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "skins" and "Steins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steigst vs Steins". 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 #600,421 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