SohlevsSteleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,833
“Sohle” frequency rank
#40,226
“Stele” frequency rank
57059
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sohle Stele
Definition Fußsohle, Unterseite des Fußes Grabstein, Gedenkstein der Antike, Pfeiler mit einer Inschrift- oder Bildtafel; heute auch moderne freistehende Informationstafel

Where the eye mixes Sohle and Stele

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

5 ch
Sohle
5 ch
Stele

Look-alike desk: Sohle vs Stele

A purely visual mix-up. Sohle ([ˈzoːlə]) and Stele ([ˈʃteːlə]) 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 57059, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sohle is recorded at frequency rank #16,833, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzoːlə]. Stele is at rank #40,226, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃteːlə].

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 57059, this pair ranks #916,145 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Sohle vs Stele

Shared letters: els. Private to "Sohle": ho. Private to "Stele": t.

"Sohle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Stele" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sohleoshle · shole · sohel · sohhle · sohlle · solhe · ssohle
  • Stelesetle · sstele · stlee · sttele · tsele

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Sohle" and "Stele" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzoːlə] versus [ˈʃteːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Sohle" or "Stele"?
"Sohle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,833 in our German list, against #40,226 for "Stele". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sohle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stele" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #916,145 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sohle" and "Stele" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stele vs Stilen". 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 #916,145 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