Which to use
“spinnen” and “stinken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,368
- “spinnen” frequency rank
- #22,520
- “stinken” frequency rank
- 32888
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spinnen | stinken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen Faden herstellen, Erstellung von Garn aus einzelnen Fasern | (sehr) übel schlecht riechen, üblen Geruch verbreiten |
Where the eye mixes spinnen and stinken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. spinnen and stinken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses spinnen with stinken
A purely visual mix-up. spinnen ([ˈʃpɪnən]) and stinken ([ˈʃtɪŋkn̩]) 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 32888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spinnen is recorded at frequency rank #10,368, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpɪnən]. stinken is at rank #22,520, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɪŋkn̩].
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 32888, this pair ranks #1,697,881 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spinnen vs stinken
Shared letters: eins. Private to "spinnen": p. Private to "stinken": kt.
"spinnen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stinken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spinnen" for "stinken" ever safe?
Frequency check: "spinnen" vs "stinken" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "spinnen" and "stinken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "spinnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stinken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,697,881 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spinnen" and "stinken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs stinken". 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 #1,697,881 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.