steigenvssteinigenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,127
“steigen” frequency rank
#31,805
“steinigen” frequency rank
33932
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature steigen steinigen
Definition in die Höhe gehen, sich nach oben bewegen jemanden töten, indem man ihn mit Steinen bewirft

Where the eye mixes steigen and steinigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
steigen
9 ch
steinigen

Visual trap between steigen and steinigen

A purely visual mix-up. steigen ([ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩]) and steinigen ([ˈʃtaɪ̯nɪɡn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

steigen is recorded at frequency rank #2,127, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩]. steinigen is at rank #31,805, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯nɪɡn̩].

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 33932, this pair ranks #1,674,818 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of steigen vs steinigen

Shared letters: eginst. Private to "steigen": -. Private to "steinigen": -.

"steigen" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "steinigen" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • steigensetigen · ssteigen · stegien · steiegn · steigenn · steiggen · steigne · stteigen
  • steinigensetinigen · ssteinigen · steiingen · steingien · steiniegn · steinigenn · steiniggen · steinigne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "steigen" for "steinigen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩] versus [ˈʃtaɪ̯nɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "steigen" or "steinigen" show up more?
"steigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,127 in our German list, against #31,805 for "steinigen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "steigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "steinigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,674,818 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "steigen" and "steinigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Steinchen vs steinigen". 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 #1,674,818 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