Which to use
“stinken” and “stinkt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,520
- “stinken” frequency rank
- #9,811
- “stinkt” frequency rank
- 32331
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stinken | stinkt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (sehr) übel schlecht riechen, üblen Geruch verbreiten | 3. Person Singular Präsens Indikativ des Verbs stinken |
Where the eye mixes stinken and stinkt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. stinken runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against stinkt's 6 (CCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses stinken with stinkt
A purely visual mix-up. stinken ([ˈʃtɪŋkn̩]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stinken is recorded at frequency rank #22,520, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɪŋkn̩]. 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 32331, this pair ranks #1,709,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stinken vs stinkt
Shared letters: iknst. Private to "stinken": e. Private to "stinkt": -.
"stinken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stinkt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stinken" and "stinkt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "stinken" or "stinkt" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "stinken" 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 #1,709,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stinken" and "stinkt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs stinken". 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 #1,709,922 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.