stirbvsStirnTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#27,072
“stirb” frequency rank
#6,359
“Stirn” frequency rank
33431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stirb Stirn
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sterben der Teil des Gesichts zwischen Augenbrauen und Haaransatz

Where the eye mixes stirb and Stirn

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. stirb and Stirn follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
stirb
5 ch
Stirn

Look-alike desk: stirb vs Stirn

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stirb is [ʃtɪʁp] while Stirn is [ʃtɪʁn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “stirb” becomes n in “Stirn”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stirb is recorded at frequency rank #27,072, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪʁp]. Stirn is at rank #6,359, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɪʁn].

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 33431, this pair ranks #1,686,126 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stirb vs Stirn

Shared letters: irst. Private to "stirb": b. Private to "Stirn": n.

"stirb" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Stirn" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stirb ← sitrb · sstirb · stibr · stirbb · stirrb · strib · sttirb · tsirb
  • Stirn ← sitrn · sstirn · stinr · stirnn · stirrn · strin · sttirn · tsirn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stirb" and "Stirn" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stirb" is a verb and "Stirn" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "stirb" or "Stirn" show up more?
"Stirn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,359 in our German list, against #27,072 for "stirb". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stirb" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stirn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,686,126 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stirb" and "Stirn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sire vs stirb". 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 #1,686,126 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