strangevsstrongWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,560
“strange” frequency rank
#20,073
“strong” frequency rank
36633
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature strange strong
Definition nicht bekannt, nicht gewohnt, nicht gewöhnlich, nicht üblich stark

Letter map: strange vs strong

Shared letters muted; letters that set strange and strong apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

7 ch
strange
6 ch
strong

Spelling & dictionary notes on strange vs strong

strange and strong are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

strange is recorded at frequency rank #16,560, classified as anadj, pronounced [streɪnd͡ʒ]. strong is at rank #20,073, tagged as anadj, pronounced […].

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 36633, this pair ranks #1,610,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of strange vs strong

Shared letters: gnrst. Private to "strange": ae. Private to "strong": o.

"strange" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "strong" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • strangesrtange · sstrange · starnge · stragne · straneg · strangge · strannge · strnage
  • strongsrtong · sstrong · storng · strnog · strogn · strongg · stronng · strrong

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "strange" for "strong" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "strange" vs "strong" - which ranks higher?
"strange" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,560 in our German list, against #20,073 for "strong". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "strange" vs "strong" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "strange" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "strong" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,610,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "strange" and "strong" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs strong". 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 #1,610,593 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