Which to use
“autoritär” and “autoritäre” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,616
- “autoritär” frequency rank
- #29,019
- “autoritäre” frequency rank
- 67635
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | autoritär | autoritäre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | auf gewaltsamer Autorität beruhend | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs autoritär |
Where the eye mixes autoritär and autoritäre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. autoritär runs 9 letters (VVCVCVCVC) against autoritäre's 10 (VVCVCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses autoritär with autoritäre
A purely visual mix-up. autoritär ([aʊ̯toʁiˈtɛːɐ̯]) and autoritäre ([aʊ̯toʁiˈtɛːʁə]) 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) - “autoritär” sits inside “autoritäre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67635, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
autoritär is recorded at frequency rank #38,616, classified as anadj, pronounced [aʊ̯toʁiˈtɛːɐ̯]. autoritäre is at rank #29,019, tagged as anadj, pronounced [aʊ̯toʁiˈtɛːʁə].
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 67635, this pair ranks #533,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of autoritär vs autoritäre
Shared letters: aiortuä. Private to "autoritär": -. Private to "autoritäre": e.
"autoritär" · 9 letters · shape VVCVCVCVC · "autoritäre" · 10 letters · shape VVCVCVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "autoritär" for "autoritäre" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "autoritär" or "autoritäre" show up more?
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 "autoritär" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "autoritäre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #533,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "autoritär" and "autoritäre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "autoritär vs autoritären". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #533,749 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.