SlipvsstepWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,504
“Slip” frequency rank
#18,712
“step” frequency rank
41216
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Slip step
Definition kurze, ohne Beinansatz geschnittene Unterhose die Stufe

Where the eye mixes Slip and step

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Slip
4 ch
step

Look-alike desk: Slip vs step

A purely visual mix-up. Slip ([slɪp]) and step ([stɛp]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41216, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Slip is recorded at frequency rank #22,504, classified as anoun, pronounced [slɪp]. step is at rank #18,712, tagged as anoun, pronounced [stɛp].

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 41216, this pair ranks #1,485,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Slip vs step

Shared letters: ps. Private to "Slip": il. Private to "step": et.

"Slip" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "step" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sliplsip · silp · slipp · sllip · slpi · sslip
  • stepsetp · sstep · stepp · stpe · sttep · tsep

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Slip" and "step" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([slɪp] versus [stɛp]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Slip" vs "step" - which ranks higher?
"step" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,712 in our German list, against #22,504 for "Slip". 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 "Slip" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "step" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,485,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Slip" and "step" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sil vs Slip". 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 #1,485,993 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