akutvsakuterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,288
“akut” frequency rank
#22,604
“akuter” frequency rank
37892
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature akut akuter
Definition in diesem Moment (sehr) wichtig Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs akut

Where the eye mixes akut and akuter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. akut runs 4 letters (VCVC) against akuter's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
akut
6 ch
akuter

Visual trap between akut and akuter

A purely visual mix-up. akut ([aˈkuːt]) and akuter ([aˈkuːtɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “akut” sits inside “akuter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37892, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

akut is recorded at frequency rank #15,288, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈkuːt]. akuter is at rank #22,604, tagged as anadj, pronounced [aˈkuːtɐ].

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 37892, this pair ranks #1,578,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of akut vs akuter

Shared letters: aktu. Private to "akut": -. Private to "akuter": er.

"akut" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "akuter" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • akutakkut · aktu · akutt · aukt
  • akuterakkuter · akuetr · akuterr · akutre · akutter · aukter · kauter

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "akut" for "akuter" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈkuːt] versus [aˈkuːtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "akut" or "akuter"?
"akut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,288 in our German list, against #22,604 for "akuter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "akut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "akuter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,578,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "akut" and "akuter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "akuter vs Auster". 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 #1,578,326 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