StachelvsStracheWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Stachel is a noun, Strache is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Stachel” is a noun and “Strache” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,784
“Stachel” frequency rank
#9,274
“Strache” frequency rank
40058
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stachel Strache
Definition spitzes Pflanzenteil, Auswuchs des Rindengewebes deutscher Nachname, Familienname

Where the eye mixes Stachel and Strache

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Stachel
7 ch
Strache

Visual trap between Stachel and Strache

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stachel is [ˈʃtaxl̩] while Strache is [ˈʃtʁaxə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stachel is recorded at frequency rank #30,784, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaxl̩]. Strache is at rank #9,274, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaxə].

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 40058, this pair ranks #1,519,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stachel vs Strache

Shared letters: acehst. Private to "Stachel": l. Private to "Strache": r.

"Stachel" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Strache" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stachelsatchel · sstachel · stacchel · stacehl · stachell · stachhel · stachle · stahcel
  • Strachesrtache · sstrache · starche · stracche · straceh · strachhe · strahce · strcahe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Stachel" for "Strache" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Stachel" is a noun and "Strache" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Stachel" or "Strache"?
"Strache" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,274 in our German list, against #30,784 for "Stachel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stachel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Strache" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,519,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stachel" and "Strache" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sacher vs Stachel". 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 #1,519,211 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