strickvsstriktConfusable pair

Quick tell: strick is a verb, strikt is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#16,842
“strick” frequency rank
#12,393
“strikt” frequency rank
29235
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature strick strikt
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stricken ohne jede Einschränkung; keine Ausnahme oder Widerspruch zulassend

Where the eye mixes strick and strikt

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

6 ch
strick
6 ch
strikt

Look-alike desk: strick vs strikt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: strick is [ʃtʁɪk] while strikt is [ʃtʁɪkt]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29235, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

strick is recorded at frequency rank #16,842, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtʁɪk]. strikt is at rank #12,393, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃtʁɪkt].

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 29235, this pair ranks #1,770,590 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of strick vs strikt

Shared letters: ikrst. Private to "strick": c. Private to "strikt": -.

"strick" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "strikt" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stricksrtick · sstrick · stirck · strcik · stricck · strickk · strikc · strrick
  • striktsrtikt · sstrikt · stirkt · strikkt · striktt · stritk · strkit · strrikt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "strick" for "strikt" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "strick" is a verb and "strikt" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "strick" or "strikt" show up more?
"strikt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,393 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 "strick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "strikt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,770,590 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "strick" and "strikt" 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 #1,770,590 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