TischvstoxischWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,272
“Tisch” frequency rank
#39,071
“toxisch” frequency rank
40343
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tisch toxisch
Definition Möbelstück, das aus einer Platte mit vier oder drei Beinen oder mittigen Standfuß besteht stark gesundheitsschädlich, giftig

Where the eye mixes Tisch and toxisch

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Tisch runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against toxisch's 7 (CVCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Tisch
7 ch
toxisch

Why the eye confuses Tisch with toxisch

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tisch is [tɪʃ] while toxisch is [ˈtɔksɪʃ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tisch is recorded at frequency rank #1,272, classified as anoun, pronounced [tɪʃ]. toxisch is at rank #39,071, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtɔksɪʃ].

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 40343, this pair ranks #1,511,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Tisch vs toxisch

Shared letters: chist. Private to "Tisch": -. Private to "toxisch": ox.

"Tisch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "toxisch" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tisch ← itsch · ticsh · tiscch · tischh · tishc · tissch · tsich · ttisch
  • toxisch ← otxisch · toixsch · toxicsh · toxiscch · toxischh · toxishc · toxissch · toxsich

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Tisch" for "toxisch" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tisch" is a noun and "toxisch" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Tisch" or "toxisch"?
"Tisch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,272 in our German list, against #39,071 for "toxisch". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "toxisch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,511,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tisch" and "toxisch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "toxisch vs toxischen". 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 #1,511,203 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