steilvsStreikWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: steil is a adjective, Streik is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#9,636
“steil” frequency rank
#8,788
“Streik” frequency rank
18424
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature steil Streik
Definition von der Waagerechten stark abweichend, entweder ansteigend oder abfallend (auch figurativ) eine kollektive Arbeitsniederlegung (Verweigerung), mit dem Ziel, den im Rahmen eines Arbeitskampfes erhobenen Forderungen Nachdruck zu verleihen

Where the eye mixes steil and Streik

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

5 ch
steil
6 ch
Streik

Visual trap between steil and Streik

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: steil is [ʃtaɪ̯l] while Streik is [ʃtʁaɪ̯k]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

steil is recorded at frequency rank #9,636, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃtaɪ̯l]. Streik is at rank #8,788, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtʁaɪ̯k].

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 18424, this pair ranks #1,918,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of steil vs Streik

Shared letters: eist. Private to "steil": l. Private to "Streik": kr.

"steil" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "Streik" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • steilsetil · ssteil · steill · steli · stteil · tseil
  • Streiksrteik · sstreik · sterik · streikk · streki · striek · strreik · sttreik

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "steil" for "Streik" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "steil" is an adjective and "Streik" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "steil" vs "Streik" - which ranks higher?
"Streik" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,788 in our German list, against #9,636 for "steil". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "steil" and "Streik" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "steil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Streik" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,918,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "steil" and "Streik" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sil vs steil". 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 #1,918,365 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