blödevsblöderWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,919
“blöde” frequency rank
#19,853
“blöder” frequency rank
25772
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blöde blöder
Definition auf sehr niedrigem geistigen Niveau Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs blöd

Where the eye mixes blöde and blöder

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
blöde
6 ch
blöder

Why the eye confuses blöde with blöder

A purely visual mix-up. blöde ([ˈbløːdə]) and blöder ([ˈbløːdɐ]) 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) - “blöde” sits inside “blöder”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blöde is recorded at frequency rank #5,919, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbløːdə]. blöder is at rank #19,853, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbløːdɐ].

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 25772, this pair ranks #1,828,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of blöde vs blöder

Shared letters: bdelö. Private to "blöde": -. Private to "blöder": r.

"blöde" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "blöder" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "blöde" and "blöder" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbløːdə] versus [ˈbløːdɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "blöde" vs "blöder" - which ranks higher?
"blöde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,919 in our German list, against #19,853 for "blöder". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "blöde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "blöder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,828,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "blöde" and "blöder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Blocher vs blöder". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,828,209 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