StiervsstileWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,949
“Stier” frequency rank
#14,180
“stile” frequency rank
28129
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stier stile
Definition männliches Hausrind, das geschlechtsreif ist Stil m

Where the eye mixes Stier and stile

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

5 ch
Stier
5 ch
stile

Look-alike desk: Stier vs stile

A purely visual mix-up. Stier ([ʃtiːɐ̯]) and stile ([ˈstiːle]) 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 28129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stier is recorded at frequency rank #13,949, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtiːɐ̯]. stile is at rank #14,180, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈstiːle].

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 28129, this pair ranks #1,790,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stier vs stile

Shared letters: eist. Private to "Stier": r. Private to "stile": l.

"Stier" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "stile" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stiersiter · sstier · steir · stierr · stire · sttier · tsier
  • stilesitle · sstile · stlie · sttile · tsile

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Stier" and "stile" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtiːɐ̯] versus [ˈstiːle]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Stier" or "stile"?
"Stier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,949 in our German list, against #14,180 for "stile". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,790,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stier" and "stile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stile vs Stilen". 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 #1,790,056 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