stingvsStringsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#39,049
“sting” frequency rank
#46,304
“Strings” frequency rank
85353
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sting Strings
Definition die manchen Tieren und Pflanzen eigene spitze Waffe (mit Gift) Genitiv Singular des Substantivs String

Where the eye mixes sting and Strings

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

5 ch
sting
7 ch
Strings

Look-alike desk: sting vs Strings

A purely visual mix-up. sting ([stɪŋ]) and Strings ([stʁɪŋs]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85353, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sting is recorded at frequency rank #39,049, classified as anoun, pronounced [stɪŋ]. Strings is at rank #46,304, tagged as anoun, pronounced [stʁɪŋs].

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 85353, this pair ranks #109,588 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sting vs Strings

Shared letters: ginst. Private to "sting": -. Private to "Strings": r.

"sting" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Strings" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stingsitng · ssting · stign · stingg · stinng · stnig · stting · tsing
  • Stringssrtings · sstrings · stirngs · strigns · stringgs · stringss · strinngs · strinsg

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sting" for "Strings" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([stɪŋ] versus [stʁɪŋs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "sting" or "Strings" show up more?
"sting" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,049 in our German list, against #46,304 for "Strings". 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 "sting" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Strings" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #109,588 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sting" and "Strings" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "strikes vs Strings". 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 #109,588 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