blödenvsbösenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,110
“blöden” frequency rank
#3,364
“bösen” frequency rank
16474
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blöden bösen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs blöde Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs böse

Where the eye mixes blöden and bösen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
blöden
5 ch
bösen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. blöden ([ˈbløːdn̩]) and bösen ([ˈbøːzn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16474, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blöden is recorded at frequency rank #13,110, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbløːdn̩]. bösen is at rank #3,364, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbøːzn̩].

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 16474, this pair ranks #1,935,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of blöden vs bösen

Shared letters: benö. Private to "blöden": dl. Private to "bösen": s.

"blöden" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "bösen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "blöden" and "bösen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbløːdn̩] versus [ˈbøːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "blöden" or "bösen"?
"bösen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,364 in our German list, against #13,110 for "blöden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list