ÄrgervsÄtherWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,498
“Ärger” frequency rank
#33,933
“Äther” frequency rank
37431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ärger Äther
Definition spontane, innere, emotionale Reaktion hochgradiger Unzufriedenheit auf eine Situation, eine Person oder eine Erinnerung, die der Verärgerte lieber anders gesehen hätte verschiedene organische Verbindungen mit einer Sauerstoffbrücke als funktionelle Gruppe

Where the eye mixes Ärger and Äther

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

5 ch
Ärger
5 ch
Äther

Why the eye confuses Ärger with Äther

A purely visual mix-up. Ärger ([ˈɛʁɡɐ]) and Äther ([ˈɛːtɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ärger is recorded at frequency rank #3,498, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁɡɐ]. Äther is at rank #33,933, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛːtɐ].

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 37431, this pair ranks #1,590,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ärger vs Äther

Shared letters: erä. Private to "Ärger": g. Private to "Äther": ht.

"Ärger" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "Äther" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ärger" and "Äther" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛʁɡɐ] versus [ˈɛːtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Ärger" vs "Äther" - which ranks higher?
"Ärger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,498 in our German list, against #33,933 for "Äther". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Ärger" and "Äther" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ärger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Äther" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,590,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ärger" and "Äther" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Äther vs Atze". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,590,432 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