anfälligervsauffälligerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,935
“anfälliger” frequency rank
#39,210
“auffälliger” frequency rank
87145
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anfälliger auffälliger
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs anfällig Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs auffällig

Where the eye mixes anfälliger and auffälliger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. anfälliger runs 10 letters (VCCVCCVCVC) against auffälliger's 11 (VVCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
anfälliger
11 ch
auffälliger

Look-alike desk: anfälliger vs auffälliger

A purely visual mix-up. anfälliger ([ˈanfɛlɪɡɐ]) and auffälliger ([ˈaʊ̯fˌfɛlɪɡɐ]) 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 87145, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anfälliger is recorded at frequency rank #47,935, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈanfɛlɪɡɐ]. auffälliger is at rank #39,210, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌfɛlɪɡɐ].

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 87145, this pair ranks #84,197 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of anfälliger vs auffälliger

Shared letters: aefgilrä. Private to "anfälliger": n. Private to "auffälliger": u.

"anfälliger" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC  ·  "auffälliger" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "anfälliger" for "auffälliger" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈanfɛlɪɡɐ] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌfɛlɪɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "anfälliger" or "auffälliger"?
"auffälliger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,210 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.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "anfälliger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auffälliger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #84,197 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anfälliger" and "auffälliger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auffälliger vs auffälliges". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #84,197 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