Which to use
“bare” and “böse” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,448
- “bare” frequency rank
- #1,543
- “böse” frequency rank
- 32991
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bare | böse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bar | moralisch falsch, nicht gut; bösartig |
Where the eye mixes bare and böse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bare and böse
A purely visual mix-up. bare ([ˈbaːʁə]) and böse ([ˈbøːzə]) 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 32991, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bare is recorded at frequency rank #31,448, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbaːʁə]. böse is at rank #1,543, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbøːzə].
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 32991, this pair ranks #1,695,671 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bare vs böse
Shared letters: be. Private to "bare": ar. Private to "böse": sö.
"bare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "böse" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- bare ← barre · bbare · brae
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bare" and "böse" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "bare" vs "böse" - which ranks higher?
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 "bare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "böse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,695,671 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bare" and "böse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bare vs Birk". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,695,671 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.