StrickenvsstriktenTell them apart

Quick tell: Stricken is a noun, strikten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Stricken” is a noun and “strikten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,071
“Stricken” frequency rank
#33,320
“strikten” frequency rank
53391
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stricken strikten
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Strick Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs strikt

Where the eye mixes Stricken and strikten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Stricken and strikten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
Stricken
8 ch
strikten

Visual trap between Stricken and strikten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stricken is [ˈʃtʁɪkn̩] while strikten is [ˈʃtʁɪktn̩]. 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 53391, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stricken is recorded at frequency rank #20,071, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɪkn̩]. strikten is at rank #33,320, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɪktn̩].

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 53391, this pair ranks #1,059,843 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Stricken vs strikten

Shared letters: eiknrst. Private to "Stricken": c. Private to "strikten": -.

"Stricken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "strikten" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stricken ← srticken · sstricken · stircken · strciken · striccken · stricekn · strickenn · strickken
  • strikten ← srtikten · sstrikten · stirkten · striketn · strikkten · striktenn · striktne · striktten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Stricken" for "strikten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Stricken" is a noun and "strikten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Stricken" vs "strikten" - which ranks higher?
"Stricken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,071 in our German list, against #33,320 for "strikten". 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 "Stricken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "strikten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,059,843 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stricken" and "strikten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "strikten vs strippen". 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 #1,059,843 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