SpassvsSprossWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#524
“Spass” frequency rank
#36,034
“Spross” frequency rank
36558
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spass Spross
Definition Spaß junger Trieb an einer Pflanze, neu wachsender Teil einer Pflanze

Where the eye mixes Spass and Spross

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Spass
6 ch
Spross

Look-alike desk: Spass vs Spross

A purely visual mix-up. Spass ([ʃpaːs]) and Spross ([ʃpʁɔs]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36558, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spass is recorded at frequency rank #524, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃpaːs]. Spross is at rank #36,034, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃpʁɔs].

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 36558, this pair ranks #1,612,530 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Spass vs Spross

Shared letters: ps. Private to "Spass": a. Private to "Spross": or.

"Spass" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Spross" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spasspsass · sapss · spas · spaß · sppass · spsas · sspass
  • Sprosspsross · sporss · sppross · spros · sproß · sprross · sprsos · srposs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Spass" for "Spross" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃpaːs] versus [ʃpʁɔs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Spass" or "Spross" show up more?
"Spass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #524 in our German list, against #36,034 for "Spross". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Spass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Spross" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,612,530 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spass" and "Spross" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spross vs Sprossen". 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 #1,612,530 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