StelenvsStilenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#46,297
“Stelen” frequency rank
#49,273
“Stilen” frequency rank
95570
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stelen Stilen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stele Dativ Plural des Substantivs Stil

Where the eye mixes Stelen and Stilen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Stelen
6 ch
Stilen

Visual trap between Stelen and Stilen

A purely visual mix-up. Stelen ([ˈʃteːlən]) and Stilen ([ˈʃtiːlən]) 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 a single letter - e in “Stelen” becomes i in “Stilen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 95570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stelen is recorded at frequency rank #46,297, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃteːlən]. Stilen is at rank #49,273, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtiːlən].

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 95570, this pair ranks #11,003 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Stelen vs Stilen

Shared letters: elnst. Private to "Stelen": -. Private to "Stilen": i.

"Stelen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Stilen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stelensstelen · steeln · stelenn · stelne · stleen · sttelen · tselen
  • Stilensitlen · sstilen · stieln · stilenn · stilne · stlien · sttilen · tsilen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Stelen" and "Stilen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃteːlən] versus [ˈʃtiːlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Stelen" vs "Stilen" - which ranks higher?
"Stelen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #46,297 in our German list, against #49,273 for "Stilen". 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 "Stelen" and "Stilen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stelen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,003 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stelen" and "Stilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs Stuten". 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 #11,003 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