AdelvsAmselConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,215
“Adel” frequency rank
#42,326
“Amsel” frequency rank
52541
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Adel Amsel
Definition durch Abstammung oder besondere Leistungen privilegierte Schicht großer, schwarzer Singvogel mit gelbem Schnabel aus der Familie der Drosseln

Where the eye mixes Adel and Amsel

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Adel
5 ch
Amsel

Visual trap between Adel and Amsel

A purely visual mix-up. Adel ([ˈaːdl̩]) and Amsel ([ˈamzəl]) 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 52541, 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]. Amsel is at rank #42,326, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈamzəl].

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 52541, this pair ranks #1,092,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Adel vs Amsel

Shared letters: ael. Private to "Adel": d. Private to "Amsel": ms.

"Adel" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "Amsel" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Adeladdel · adell · adle · aedl
  • Amselamesl · ammsel · amsell · amsle · amssel · asmel · masel

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Adel" for "Amsel" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaːdl̩] versus [ˈamzəl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Adel" or "Amsel" show up more?
"Adel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,215 in our German list, against #42,326 for "Amsel". 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 "Adel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Amsel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,092,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Adel" and "Amsel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Amsel vs apel". 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 #1,092,724 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