StiftervsStiftsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,080
“Stifter” frequency rank
#44,253
“Stifts” frequency rank
62333
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stifter Stifts
Definition Person, die etwas stiftet Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stift

Where the eye mixes Stifter and Stifts

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

7 ch
Stifter
6 ch
Stifts

Visual trap between Stifter and Stifts

A purely visual mix-up. Stifter ([ˈʃtɪftɐ]) and Stifts ([ʃtɪft͡s]) 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 62333, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stifter is recorded at frequency rank #18,080, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɪftɐ]. Stifts is at rank #44,253, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɪft͡s].

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 62333, this pair ranks #716,768 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Stifter vs Stifts

Shared letters: fist. Private to "Stifter": er. Private to "Stifts": -.

"Stifter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Stifts" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stiftersitfter · sstifter · stfiter · stifetr · stiffter · stifterr · stiftre · stiftter
  • Stiftssitfts · sstifts · stfits · stiffts · stifst · stiftss · stiftts · stitfs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Stifter" for "Stifts" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɪftɐ] versus [ʃtɪft͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Stifter" or "Stifts" show up more?
"Stifter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,080 in our German list, against #44,253 for "Stifts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stifter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stifts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #716,768 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stifter" and "Stifts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stifts vs stunts". 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 #716,768 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