blödvsbooWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: blöd is a adjective, boo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“blöd” is an adjective and “boo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,812
“blöd” frequency rank
#36,232
“boo” frequency rank
39044
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blöd boo
Definition nicht sehr intelligent (Person) oder durch mangelndes Nachdenken entstanden Buhruf

Where the eye mixes blöd and boo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. blöd runs 4 letters (CCVC) against boo's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
blöd
3 ch
boo

Visual trap between blöd and boo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: blöd is [bløːt] while boo is [buː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39044, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blöd is recorded at frequency rank #2,812, classified as anadj, pronounced [bløːt]. boo is at rank #36,232, tagged as anoun, pronounced [buː].

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 39044, this pair ranks #1,547,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of blöd vs boo

Shared letters: b. Private to "blöd": dlö. Private to "boo": o.

"blöd" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "boo" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "blöd" and "boo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "blöd" is an adjective and "boo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "blöd" or "boo"?
"blöd" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,812 in our German list, against #36,232 for "boo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "blöd" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "boo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,547,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "blöd" and "boo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bic vs boo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,547,612 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