anfälligvsanfälligerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,901
“anfällig” frequency rank
#47,935
“anfälliger” frequency rank
64836
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anfällig anfälliger
Definition so, dass eine Person oder eine Sache leicht durch etwas beeinflusst oder auch verlockt werden kann Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs anfällig

Where the eye mixes anfällig and anfälliger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. anfällig runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against anfälliger's 10 (VCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
anfällig
10 ch
anfälliger

Why the eye confuses anfällig with anfälliger

A purely visual mix-up. anfällig ([ˈanfɛlɪç]) and anfälliger ([ˈanfɛlɪɡɐ]) 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) - “anfällig” sits inside “anfälliger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64836, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anfällig is recorded at frequency rank #16,901, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈanfɛlɪç]. anfälliger is at rank #47,935, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈanfɛlɪɡɐ].

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 64836, this pair ranks #627,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of anfällig vs anfälliger

Shared letters: afgilnä. Private to "anfällig": -. Private to "anfälliger": er.

"anfällig" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "anfälliger" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "anfällig" for "anfälliger" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanfɛlɪç] versus [ˈanfɛlɪɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "anfällig" vs "anfälliger" - which ranks higher?
"anfällig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,901 in our German list, against #47,935 for "anfälliger". 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 "anfällig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anfälliger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #627,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anfällig" and "anfälliger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anfälliger vs auffälliger". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #627,593 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