Which to use
“Stoff” is a noun and “stolz” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,921
- “Stoff” frequency rank
- #1,141
- “stolz” frequency rank
- 4062
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Stoff | stolz |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | das Material, die Materie | seiner Fähigkeiten und Leistungen bewusst und erfreut darüber, im Selbstgefühl gestärkt |
Where the eye mixes Stoff and stolz
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Stoff vs stolz
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stoff is [ʃtɔf] while stolz is [ʃtɔlt͡s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Stoff is recorded at frequency rank #2,921, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɔf]. stolz is at rank #1,141, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃtɔlt͡s].
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 4062, this pair ranks #1,998,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Stoff vs stolz
Shared letters: ost. Private to "Stoff": f. Private to "stolz": lz.
"Stoff" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "stolz" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Stoff" for "stolz" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Stoff" or "stolz" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Stoff" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stolz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,998,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Stoff" and "stolz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sola vs stolz". 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 #1,998,678 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.