Which to use
“Tillich” is a name and “tödlich” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,182
- “Tillich” frequency rank
- #6,864
- “tödlich” frequency rank
- 49046
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Tillich | tödlich |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | deutscher Nachname, Familienname | zum Tod führend; den Tod zur Folge habend |
Where the eye mixes Tillich and tödlich
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Tillich and tödlich follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Tillich and tödlich
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tillich is [ˈtɪlɪç] while tödlich is [ˈtøːtlɪç]. 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 (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49046, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Tillich is recorded at frequency rank #42,182, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈtɪlɪç]. tödlich is at rank #6,864, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtøːtlɪç].
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 49046, this pair ranks #1,226,083 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Tillich vs tödlich
Shared letters: chilt. Private to "Tillich": -. Private to "tödlich": dö.
"Tillich" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "tödlich" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Tillich ← itllich · tilich · tililch · tillcih · tillicch · tillichh · tillihc · tlilich
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Tillich" for "tödlich" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Tillich" or "tödlich" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Tillich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tödlich" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,226,083 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Tillich" and "tödlich" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tödlich vs tödliches". 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 #1,226,083 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.