stichtvsstinktWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,948
“sticht” frequency rank
#9,811
“stinkt” frequency rank
23759
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sticht stinkt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stechen 3. Person Singular Präsens Indikativ des Verbs stinken

Where the eye mixes sticht and stinkt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sticht and stinkt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
sticht
6 ch
stinkt

Look-alike desk: sticht vs stinkt

A purely visual mix-up. sticht ([ʃtɪçt]) and stinkt ([ʃtɪŋkt]) 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 23759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sticht is recorded at frequency rank #13,948, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪçt]. stinkt is at rank #9,811, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪŋkt].

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 23759, this pair ranks #1,856,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sticht vs stinkt

Shared letters: ist. Private to "sticht": ch. Private to "stinkt": kn.

"sticht" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "stinkt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sticht ← sitcht · ssticht · stciht · sticcht · stichht · stichtt · sticth · stihct
  • stinkt ← sitnkt · sstinkt · stiknt · stinkkt · stinktt · stinnkt · stintk · stnikt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sticht" and "stinkt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtɪçt] versus [ʃtɪŋkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sticht" or "stinkt"?
"stinkt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,811 in our German list, against #13,948 for "sticht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sticht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stinkt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,856,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sticht" and "stinkt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stichen vs sticht". 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 #1,856,961 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