ZeugsvsZeusTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,133
“Zeugs” frequency rank
#16,612
“Zeus” frequency rank
34745
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Zeugs Zeus
Definition eine Masse oder mehrere Dinge, die als unwichtig, wertlos oder störend empfunden und aus Abneigung nicht genauer benannt werden höchster der olympischen Götter, Himmels- und Wettergott. Gatte der Hera.

Where the eye mixes Zeugs and Zeus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Zeugs runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against Zeus's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Zeugs
4 ch
Zeus

Visual trap between Zeugs and Zeus

A purely visual mix-up. Zeugs ([t͡sɔɪ̯ks]) and Zeus ([t͡sɔɪ̯s]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Zeugs is recorded at frequency rank #18,133, classified as anoun, pronounced [t͡sɔɪ̯ks]. Zeus is at rank #16,612, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t͡sɔɪ̯s].

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 34745, this pair ranks #1,656,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Zeugs vs Zeus

Shared letters: esuz. Private to "Zeugs": g. Private to "Zeus": -.

"Zeugs" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "Zeus" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Zeugs ← ezugs · zegus · zeuggs · zeugss · zeusg · zzeugs
  • Zeus ← ezus · zesu · zeuss · zues · zzeus

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Zeugs" and "Zeus" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t͡sɔɪ̯ks] versus [t͡sɔɪ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Zeugs" vs "Zeus" - which ranks higher?
"Zeus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,612 in our German list, against #18,133 for "Zeugs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Zeugs" and "Zeus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Zeugs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Zeus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,656,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Zeugs" and "Zeus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Zeugs vs zeugte". 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 #1,656,318 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