SpassvsStussWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#524
“Spass” frequency rank
#42,853
“Stuss” frequency rank
43377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spass Stuss
Definition Spaß etwas, das (ärgerlicherweise) unsinnig geäußert oder getan wurde; etwas Unsinniges, Sinnloses, Törichtes

Where the eye mixes Spass and Stuss

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Spass and Stuss follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Spass
5 ch
Stuss

Visual trap between Spass and Stuss

A purely visual mix-up. Spass ([ʃpaːs]) and Stuss ([ʃtʊs]) 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 43377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spass is recorded at frequency rank #524, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃpaːs]. Stuss is at rank #42,853, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtʊs].

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 43377, this pair ranks #1,420,040 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Spass vs Stuss

Shared letters: s. Private to "Spass": ap. Private to "Stuss": tu.

"Spass" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Stuss" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spass ← psass · sapss · spas · spaß · sppass · spsas · sspass
  • Stuss ← sstuss · stsus · sttuss · stus · stuß · sutss · tsuss

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Spass" for "Stuss" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃpaːs] versus [ʃtʊs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Spass" vs "Stuss" - which ranks higher?
"Spass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #524 in our German list, against #42,853 for "Stuss". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Spass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stuss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,420,040 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spass" and "Stuss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stuss vs SUVs". 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 #1,420,040 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