auffälligvsauffälligeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,151
“auffällig” frequency rank
#18,477
“auffällige” frequency rank
24628
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature auffällig auffällige
Definition die Aufmerksamkeit auf sich ziehend; Interesse erweckend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs auffällig

Where the eye mixes auffällig and auffällige

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

9 ch
auffällig
10 ch
auffällige

Why the eye confuses auffällig with auffällige

A purely visual mix-up. auffällig ([ˈaʊ̯fˌfɛlɪç]) and auffällige ([ˈaʊ̯fˌfɛlɪɡə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “auffällig” sits inside “auffällige”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

auffällig is recorded at frequency rank #6,151, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌfɛlɪç]. auffällige is at rank #18,477, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌfɛlɪɡə].

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 24628, this pair ranks #1,844,939 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of auffällig vs auffällige

Shared letters: afgiluä. Private to "auffällig": -. Private to "auffällige": e.

"auffällig" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "auffällige" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "auffällig" and "auffällige" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaʊ̯fˌfɛlɪç] versus [ˈaʊ̯fˌfɛlɪɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "auffällig" vs "auffällige" - which ranks higher?
"auffällig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,151 in our German list, against #18,477 for "auffällige". 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 "auffällig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auffällige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,844,939 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "auffällig" and "auffällige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auffällige vs auffälliger". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,844,939 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