spicevsSpieleConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#32,775
“spice” frequency rank
#651
“Spiele” frequency rank
33426
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spice Spiele
Definition Teile von Pflanzen, die wegen ihres natürlichen Gehaltes an Geschmacks- und Geruchsstoffen als würzende oder geschmacksgebende Zutaten bei der Zubereitung von Speisen und Getränken aller Art eingesetzt werden Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Spiel

Where the eye mixes spice and Spiele

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

5 ch
spice
6 ch
Spiele

Look-alike desk: spice vs Spiele

A purely visual mix-up. spice ([spaɪs]) and Spiele ([ˈʃpiːlə]) 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 33426, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spice is recorded at frequency rank #32,775, classified as anoun, pronounced [spaɪs]. Spiele is at rank #651, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpiːlə].

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 33426, this pair ranks #1,686,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of spice vs Spiele

Shared letters: eips. Private to "spice": c. Private to "Spiele": l.

"spice" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Spiele" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • spicepsice · sipce · spcie · spicce · spiec · sppice · sspice
  • Spielepsiele · sipele · speile · spieel · spielle · spilee · sppiele · sspiele

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "spice" and "Spiele" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([spaɪs] versus [ˈʃpiːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "spice" or "Spiele" show up more?
"Spiele" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #651 in our German list, against #32,775 for "spice". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "spice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Spiele" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,686,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spice" and "Spiele" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sire vs spice". 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 #1,686,230 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