Which to use
“brutal” and “brutale” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,022
- “brutal” frequency rank
- #15,323
- “brutale” frequency rank
- 22345
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | brutal | brutale |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dazu neigen, rücksichtslos, übermäßig, unangebracht und oft unbeherrscht gewalttätig, verletzend oder quälerisch zu sein, meist ohne Reue oder Skrupel. | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs brutal |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set brutal and brutale apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. brutal ([bʁuˈtaːl]) and brutale ([bʁuˈtaːlə]) 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) - “brutal” sits inside “brutale”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22345, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
brutal is recorded at frequency rank #7,022, classified as anadj, pronounced [bʁuˈtaːl]. brutale is at rank #15,323, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bʁuˈtaːlə].
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 22345, this pair ranks #1,875,299 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of brutal vs brutale
Shared letters: ablrtu. Private to "brutal": -. Private to "brutale": e.
"brutal" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "brutale" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "brutal" and "brutale" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "brutal" or "brutale"?
Remembering brutal vs brutale
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “brutal” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable