StuhlvsStussWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,162
“Stuhl” frequency rank
#42,853
“Stuss” frequency rank
47015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stuhl Stuss
Definition (Sitz-)Möbel, meist mit vier hohen Beinen, Rückenlehne und eventuell Armlehnen etwas, das (ärgerlicherweise) unsinnig geäußert oder getan wurde; etwas Unsinniges, Sinnloses, Törichtes

Where the eye mixes Stuhl and Stuss

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Stuhl and Stuss follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Stuhl
5 ch
Stuss

Visual trap between Stuhl and Stuss

A purely visual mix-up. Stuhl ([ʃtuːl]) and Stuss ([ʃtʊs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stuhl is recorded at frequency rank #4,162, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtuːl]. Stuss is at rank #42,853, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtʊs].

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 47015, this pair ranks #1,299,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Stuhl vs Stuss

Shared letters: stu. Private to "Stuhl": hl. Private to "Stuss": -.

"Stuhl" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Stuss" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stuhl ← sstuhl · sthul · sttuhl · stuhhl · stuhll · stulh · suthl · tsuhl
  • Stuss ← sstuss · stsus · sttuss · stus · stuß · sutss · tsuss

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Stuhl" for "Stuss" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtuːl] versus [ʃtʊs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Stuhl" or "Stuss" show up more?
"Stuhl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,162 in our German list, against #42,853 for "Stuss". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stuhl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stuss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,299,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stuhl" and "Stuss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stuss vs SUVs". 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 #1,299,155 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