abenteuerlichvsabenteuerlicheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,027
“abenteuerlich” frequency rank
#28,973
“abenteuerliche” frequency rank
64000
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abenteuerlich abenteuerliche
Definition wie ein Abenteuer sein, sich auf ein Abenteuer beziehend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs abenteuerlich

Where the eye mixes abenteuerlich and abenteuerliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 13 letters in sequence. abenteuerlich runs 13 letters (VCVCCVVVCCVCC) against abenteuerliche's 14 (VCVCCVVVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

13 ch
abenteuerlich
14 ch
abenteuerliche

Why the eye confuses abenteuerlich with abenteuerliche

A purely visual mix-up. abenteuerlich ([ˈaːbn̩ˌtɔɪ̯ɐlɪç]) and abenteuerliche ([ˈaːbn̩ˌtɔɪ̯ɐlɪçə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “abenteuerlich” sits inside “abenteuerliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abenteuerlich is recorded at frequency rank #35,027, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaːbn̩ˌtɔɪ̯ɐlɪç]. abenteuerliche is at rank #28,973, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaːbn̩ˌtɔɪ̯ɐlɪçə].

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 64000, this pair ranks #656,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abenteuerlich vs abenteuerliche

Shared letters: abcehilnrtu. Private to "abenteuerlich": -. Private to "abenteuerliche": -.

"abenteuerlich" · 13 letters · shape VCVCCVVVCCVCC  ·  "abenteuerliche" · 14 letters · shape VCVCCVVVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abenteuerlich ← abbenteuerlich · abenetuerlich · abennteuerlich · abenteeurlich · abenteuelrich · abenteuerilch · abenteuerlcih · abenteuerlicch
  • abenteuerliche ← abbenteuerliche · abenetuerliche · abennteuerliche · abenteeurliche · abenteuelriche · abenteuerilche · abenteuerlcihe · abenteuerlicche

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abenteuerlich" and "abenteuerliche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaːbn̩ˌtɔɪ̯ɐlɪç] versus [ˈaːbn̩ˌtɔɪ̯ɐlɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abenteuerlich" vs "abenteuerliche" - which ranks higher?
"abenteuerliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,973 in our German list, against #35,027 for "abenteuerlich". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "abenteuerlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abenteuerliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #656,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abenteuerlich" and "abenteuerliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abenteuerlich vs abenteuerlichen". 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 #656,877 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