StichvsStirnWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,726
“Stich” frequency rank
#6,359
“Stirn” frequency rank
13085
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stich Stirn
Definition das Eindringen eines spitzen Gegenstandes in einen Körper der Teil des Gesichts zwischen Augenbrauen und Haaransatz

Where the eye mixes Stich and Stirn

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Stich and Stirn follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Stich
5 ch
Stirn

Visual trap between Stich and Stirn

A purely visual mix-up. Stich ([ʃtɪç]) and Stirn ([ʃtɪʁn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stich is recorded at frequency rank #6,726, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɪç]. Stirn is at rank #6,359, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɪʁn].

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 13085, this pair ranks #1,960,227 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stich vs Stirn

Shared letters: ist. Private to "Stich": ch. Private to "Stirn": nr.

"Stich" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Stirn" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stich ← sitch · sstich · stcih · sticch · stichh · stihc · sttich
  • Stirn ← sitrn · sstirn · stinr · stirnn · stirrn · strin · sttirn · tsirn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Stich" and "Stirn" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtɪç] versus [ʃtɪʁn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Stich" vs "Stirn" - which ranks higher?
"Stirn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,359 in our German list, against #6,726 for "Stich". 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 "Stich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stirn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,960,227 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stich" and "Stirn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs Stirn". 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 #1,960,227 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