SpielervsSpinnerTell them apart

Which to use

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

#758
“Spieler” frequency rank
#9,097
“Spinner” frequency rank
9855
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spieler Spinner
Definition jemand, der in einem Ballsport gegen einen anderen oder eine andere Mannschaft antritt; des Weiteren jemand, der an einem Brett-, Würfel-, Kartenspiel oder einem ähnlichen Gesellschaftsspiel teilnimmt Person, die das Spinnen betreibt, in einer Spinnerei arbeitet, Garn herstellt

Where the eye mixes Spieler and Spinner

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Spieler
7 ch
Spinner

Visual trap between Spieler and Spinner

A purely visual mix-up. Spieler ([ˈʃpiːlɐ]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spieler is recorded at frequency rank #758, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpiːlɐ]. 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 9855, this pair ranks #1,977,976 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Spieler vs Spinner

Shared letters: eiprs. Private to "Spieler": l. Private to "Spinner": n.

"Spieler" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "Spinner" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spielerpsieler · sipeler · speiler · spieelr · spielerr · spieller · spielre · spileer
  • Spinnerpsinner · sipnner · spinenr · spiner · spinnerr · spinnre · spniner · sppinner

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Spieler" and "Spinner" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃpiːlɐ] versus [ˈʃpɪnɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Spieler" or "Spinner"?
"Spieler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #758 in our German list, against #9,097 for "Spinner". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Spieler" 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 #1,977,976 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spieler" and "Spinner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spinner vs Spinnerei". 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 #1,977,976 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