steilevsStilsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,421
“steile” frequency rank
#26,184
“Stils” frequency rank
40605
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature steile Stils
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steil Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stil

Where the eye mixes steile and Stils

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

6 ch
steile
5 ch
Stils

Why the eye confuses steile with Stils

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: steile is [ˈʃtaɪ̯lə] while Stils is [ʃtiːls]. 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 40605, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

steile is recorded at frequency rank #14,421, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯lə]. Stils is at rank #26,184, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtiːls].

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 40605, this pair ranks #1,503,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of steile vs Stils

Shared letters: ilst. Private to "steile": e. Private to "Stils": -.

"steile" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "Stils" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • steilesetile · ssteile · steiel · steille · stelie · stiele · stteile · tseile
  • Stilssitls · sstils · stills · stilss · stisl · stlis · sttils · tsils

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "steile" for "Stils" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "steile" is an adjective and "Stils" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "steile" or "Stils" show up more?
"steile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,421 in our German list, against #26,184 for "Stils". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "steile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stils" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,503,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "steile" and "Stils" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs Stils". 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 #1,503,708 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