skullvsspültConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#47,731
“skull” frequency rank
#34,379
“spült” frequency rank
82110
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature skull spült
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs skullen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spülen

Where the eye mixes skull and spült

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. skull and spült follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
skull
5 ch
spült

Look-alike desk: skull vs spült

A purely visual mix-up. skull ([skʊl]) and spült ([ʃpyːlt]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

skull is recorded at frequency rank #47,731, classified as averb, pronounced [skʊl]. spült is at rank #34,379, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpyːlt].

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 82110, this pair ranks #163,162 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of skull vs spült

Shared letters: ls. Private to "skull": ku. Private to "spült": ptü.

"skull" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "spült" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • skull ← ksull · skkull · sklul · skul · sskull · sukll

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "skull" and "spült" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([skʊl] versus [ʃpyːlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "skull" or "spült" show up more?
"spült" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,379 in our German list, against #47,731 for "skull". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "skull" and "spült" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "skull" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spült" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #163,162 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "skull" and "spült" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "skull vs Sulz". 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 #163,162 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