DaumenvsDrüsenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,782
“Daumen” frequency rank
#42,431
“Drüsen” frequency rank
47213
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Daumen Drüsen
Definition Finger der Hand, der nur aus zwei Fingergliedknochen besteht und aufgrund seiner Position und Beweglichkeit den anderen Fingern gegenübergestellt werden kann Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Drüse

Where the eye mixes Daumen and Drüsen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Daumen
6 ch
Drüsen

Why the eye confuses Daumen with Drüsen

A purely visual mix-up. Daumen ([ˈdaʊ̯mən]) and Drüsen ([ˈdʁyːzn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Daumen is recorded at frequency rank #4,782, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdaʊ̯mən]. Drüsen is at rank #42,431, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdʁyːzn̩].

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 47213, this pair ranks #1,292,288 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Daumen vs Drüsen

Shared letters: den. Private to "Daumen": amu. Private to "Drüsen": rsü.

"Daumen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Drüsen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Daumenadumen · damuen · dauemn · daumenn · daummen · daumne · ddaumen · duamen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Daumen" and "Drüsen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdaʊ̯mən] versus [ˈdʁyːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Daumen" or "Drüsen" show up more?
"Daumen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,782 in our German list, against #42,431 for "Drüsen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Daumen" and "Drüsen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Daumen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Drüsen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,292,288 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Daumen" and "Drüsen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dissen vs Drüsen". 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 #1,292,288 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