chaotischvschaotischeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,859
“chaotisch” frequency rank
#38,668
“chaotische” frequency rank
58527
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chaotisch chaotische
Definition ohne Ordnung, ungeordnet, wirr Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs chaotisch

Where the eye mixes chaotisch and chaotische

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. chaotisch runs 9 letters (CCVVCVCCC) against chaotische's 10 (CCVVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
chaotisch
10 ch
chaotische

Why the eye confuses chaotisch with chaotische

A purely visual mix-up. chaotisch ([kaˈʔoːtɪʃ]) and chaotische ([kaˈʔoːtɪʃə]) 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) - “chaotisch” sits inside “chaotische”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chaotisch is recorded at frequency rank #19,859, classified as anadj, pronounced [kaˈʔoːtɪʃ]. chaotische is at rank #38,668, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kaˈʔoːtɪʃə].

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 58527, this pair ranks #859,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chaotisch vs chaotische

Shared letters: achiost. Private to "chaotisch": -. Private to "chaotische": e.

"chaotisch" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCVCCC  ·  "chaotische" · 10 letters · shape CCVVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chaotisch ← cahotisch · cchaotisch · chaoitsch · chaoticsh · chaotiscch · chaotischh · chaotishc · chaotissch
  • chaotische ← cahotische · cchaotische · chaoitsche · chaoticshe · chaotiscche · chaotisceh · chaotischhe · chaotishce

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chaotisch" and "chaotische" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈʔoːtɪʃ] versus [kaˈʔoːtɪʃə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "chaotisch" or "chaotische" show up more?
"chaotisch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,859 in our German list, against #38,668 for "chaotische". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chaotisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chaotische" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #859,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chaotisch" and "chaotische" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chaotische vs chaotischen". 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 #859,329 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