StreifevsstrikeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,722
“Streife” frequency rank
#16,295
“strike” frequency rank
36017
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Streife strike
Definition Personengruppe (von Militär, Polizei, Sicherheitsdienst), die Fahrten oder Gänge zwecks Kontrolle eines Bereichs durchführt Schlag, Angriff

Where the eye mixes Streife and strike

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

7 ch
Streife
6 ch
strike

Look-alike desk: Streife vs strike

A purely visual mix-up. Streife ([ˈʃtʁaɪ̯fə]) and strike ([stɹaɪk]) 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 36017, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Streife is recorded at frequency rank #19,722, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯fə]. strike is at rank #16,295, tagged as anoun, pronounced [stɹaɪk].

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 36017, this pair ranks #1,626,037 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Streife vs strike

Shared letters: eirst. Private to "Streife": f. Private to "strike": k.

"Streife" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV  ·  "strike" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Streifesrteife · sstreife · sterife · strefie · streief · streiffe · striefe · strreife
  • strikesrtike · sstrike · stirke · strikke · strkie · strrike · sttrike · tsrike

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Streife" for "strike" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtʁaɪ̯fə] versus [stɹaɪk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Streife" or "strike"?
"strike" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,295 in our German list, against #19,722 for "Streife". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Streife" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "strike" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,626,037 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Streife" and "strike" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Streife vs Streiter". 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 #1,626,037 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