StreichvsstrickWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#10,371
“Streich” frequency rank
#16,842
“strick” frequency rank
27213
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Streich strick
Definition das Hereinlegen einer Person zum Zwecke der Belustigung 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stricken

Where the eye mixes Streich and strick

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

7 ch
Streich
6 ch
strick

Visual trap between Streich and strick

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Streich is [ʃtʁaɪ̯ç] while strick is [ʃtʁɪk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Streich is recorded at frequency rank #10,371, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtʁaɪ̯ç]. strick is at rank #16,842, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtʁɪk].

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 27213, this pair ranks #1,805,435 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Streich vs strick

Shared letters: cirst. Private to "Streich": eh. Private to "strick": k.

"Streich" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCC  ·  "strick" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Streichsrteich · sstreich · sterich · strecih · streicch · streichh · streihc · striech
  • stricksrtick · sstrick · stirck · strcik · stricck · strickk · strikc · strrick

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Streich" for "strick" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Streich" is a noun and "strick" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Streich" or "strick" show up more?
"Streich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,371 in our German list, against #16,842 for "strick". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Streich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "strick" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,805,435 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Streich" and "strick" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "strick vs struck". 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 #1,805,435 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