skipvsSlipWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: skip is a verb, Slip is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“skip” is a verb and “Slip” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,770
“skip” frequency rank
#22,504
“Slip” frequency rank
55274
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature skip Slip
Definition auslassen, überspringen kurze, ohne Beinansatz geschnittene Unterhose

Where the eye mixes skip and Slip

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
skip
4 ch
Slip

Visual trap between skip and Slip

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: skip is [skɪp] while Slip is [slɪp]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - k in “skip” becomes l in “Slip”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55274, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

skip is recorded at frequency rank #32,770, classified as averb, pronounced [skɪp]. Slip is at rank #22,504, tagged as anoun, pronounced [slɪp].

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 55274, this pair ranks #985,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of skip vs Slip

Shared letters: ips. Private to "skip": k. Private to "Slip": l.

"skip" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Slip" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • skipksip · sikp · skipp · skkip · skpi · sskip
  • Sliplsip · silp · slipp · sllip · slpi · sslip

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "skip" and "Slip" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "skip" is a verb and "Slip" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "skip" or "Slip" show up more?
"Slip" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,504 in our German list, against #32,770 for "skip". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "skip" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Slip" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #985,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "skip" and "Slip" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sil vs skip". 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 #985,961 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