StichevsStricheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,137
“Stiche” frequency rank
#33,319
“Striche” frequency rank
57456
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stiche Striche
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stich Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Strich

Where the eye mixes Stiche and Striche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Stiche runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against Striche's 7 (CCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Stiche
7 ch
Striche

Visual trap between Stiche and Striche

A purely visual mix-up. Stiche ([ˈʃtɪçə]) and Striche ([ˈʃtʁɪçə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stiche is recorded at frequency rank #24,137, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɪçə]. Striche is at rank #33,319, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɪçə].

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 57456, this pair ranks #900,654 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Stiche vs Striche

Shared letters: cehist. Private to "Stiche": -. Private to "Striche": r.

"Stiche" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Striche" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stiche ← sitche · sstiche · stcihe · sticche · sticeh · stichhe · stihce · sttiche
  • Striche ← srtiche · sstriche · stirche · strcihe · stricche · striceh · strichhe · strihce

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Stiche" for "Striche" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɪçə] versus [ˈʃtʁɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Stiche" or "Striche"?
"Stiche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,137 in our German list, against #33,319 for "Striche". 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 "Stiche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Striche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #900,654 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stiche" and "Striche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stichen vs Striche". 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 #900,654 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