StigmavsstimmWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Stigma is a noun, stimm is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Stigma” is a noun and “stimm” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,800
“Stigma” frequency rank
#30,305
“stimm” frequency rank
68105
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stigma stimm
Definition auffälliges, mitunter negativ bewertetes Merkmal, genauer 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stimmen

Where the eye mixes Stigma and stimm

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

6 ch
Stigma
5 ch
stimm

Look-alike desk: Stigma vs stimm

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stigma is [ˈʃtɪɡma] while stimm is [ʃtɪm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stigma is recorded at frequency rank #37,800, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɪɡma]. stimm is at rank #30,305, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪm].

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 68105, this pair ranks #518,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Stigma vs stimm

Shared letters: imst. Private to "Stigma": ag. Private to "stimm": -.

"Stigma" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "stimm" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stigmasitgma · sstigma · stgima · stigam · stiggma · stigmma · stimga · sttigma
  • stimmsitmm · sstimm · stim · stmim · sttimm · tsimm

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Stigma" and "stimm" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Stigma" is a noun and "stimm" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Stigma" or "stimm" show up more?
"stimm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,305 in our German list, against #37,800 for "Stigma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stigma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stimm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #518,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stigma" and "stimm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stemmt vs stimm". 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 #518,553 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