Which to use
“trollen” and “trotzen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,887
- “trollen” frequency rank
- #27,523
- “trotzen” frequency rank
- 56410
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trollen | trotzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich (meist in eher unerfreuter Stimmung) von einem Ort entfernen, weggehen, sich wegbegeben | sich einer Sache widersetzen, etwas die Stirn bieten, entgegentreten |
Where the eye mixes trollen and trotzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. trollen and trotzen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses trollen with trotzen
A purely visual mix-up. trollen ([ˈtʁɔlən]) and trotzen ([ˈtʁɔt͡sn̩]) 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 56410, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trollen is recorded at frequency rank #28,887, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁɔlən]. trotzen is at rank #27,523, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁɔt͡sn̩].
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 56410, this pair ranks #941,242 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of trollen vs trotzen
Shared letters: enort. Private to "trollen": l. Private to "trotzen": z.
"trollen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "trotzen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "trollen" and "trotzen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "trollen" or "trotzen"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "trollen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "trotzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #941,242 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trollen" and "trotzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tollem vs trollen". 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 #941,242 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.