AdelvsadultWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#10,215
“Adel” frequency rank
#22,243
“adult” frequency rank
32458
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Adel adult
Definition durch Abstammung oder besondere Leistungen privilegierte Schicht erwachsen, geschlechtsreif

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Adel and adult apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Adel
5 ch
adult

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Adel is [ˈaːdl̩] while adult is [aˈdʊlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 32458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Adel is recorded at frequency rank #10,215, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaːdl̩]. adult is at rank #22,243, tagged as anadj, pronounced [aˈdʊlt].

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 32458, this pair ranks #1,707,140 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Adel vs adult

Shared letters: adl. Private to "Adel": e. Private to "adult": tu.

"Adel" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "adult" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Adeladdel · adell · adle · aedl
  • adultaddult · adlut · adullt · adultt · adutl · audlt · dault

Frequency comparison

Adel#10,215
adult#22,243

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Adel" and "adult" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Adel" is a noun and "adult" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Adel" or "adult"?
"Adel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,215 in our German list, against #22,243 for "adult". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Adel vs adult

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Adel”; for an adjective, it's “adult”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Adel” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list