StabvsstabilConfusable pair

Quick tell: Stab is a noun, stabil is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Stab” is a noun and “stabil” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,269
“Stab” frequency rank
#5,027
“stabil” frequency rank
14296
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stab stabil
Definition länglicher zylindrischer Gegenstand belastungsfähig, standhaft, (von Werten) ständig, gleichbleibend

Where the eye mixes Stab and stabil

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

4 ch
Stab
6 ch
stabil

Why the eye confuses Stab with stabil

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stab is [ʃtaːp] while stabil is [ʃtaˈbiːl]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Stab” sits inside “stabil”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14296, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stab is recorded at frequency rank #9,269, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtaːp]. stabil is at rank #5,027, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃtaˈbiːl].

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 14296, this pair ranks #1,952,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stab vs stabil

Shared letters: abst. Private to "Stab": -. Private to "stabil": il.

"Stab" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "stabil" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stabsatb · sstab · stabb · stba · sttab · tsab
  • stabilsatbil · sstabil · stabbil · stabill · stabli · staibl · stbail · sttabil

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Stab" for "stabil" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Stab" is a noun and "stabil" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Stab" or "stabil" show up more?
"stabil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,027 in our German list, against #9,269 for "Stab". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stabil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,952,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stab" and "stabil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sai vs Stab". 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 #1,952,206 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