Which to use
“Spanner” and “Spinner” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,454
- “Spanner” frequency rank
- #9,097
- “Spinner” frequency rank
- 44551
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Spanner | Spinner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemand, der heimlich andere Personen beobachtet | Person, die das Spinnen betreibt, in einer Spinnerei arbeitet, Garn herstellt |
Where the eye mixes Spanner and Spinner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Spanner vs Spinner
A purely visual mix-up. Spanner ([ˈʃpanɐ]) and Spinner ([ˈʃpɪnɐ]) 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 a single letter - a in “Spanner” becomes i in “Spinner”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44551, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Spanner is recorded at frequency rank #35,454, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpanɐ]. Spinner is at rank #9,097, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpɪnɐ].
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 44551, this pair ranks #1,382,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Spanner vs Spinner
Shared letters: enprs. Private to "Spanner": a. Private to "Spinner": i.
"Spanner" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "Spinner" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Spanner" and "Spinner" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Spanner" vs "Spinner" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Spanner" and "Spinner" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Spanner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Spinner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,382,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Spanner" and "Spinner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spange vs Spanner". 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 #1,382,528 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.