DaumenvsDülmenConfusable pair

Quick tell: Daumen is a noun, Dülmen is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Daumen” is a noun and “Dülmen” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,782
“Daumen” frequency rank
#34,597
“Dülmen” frequency rank
39379
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Daumen Dülmen
Definition Finger der Hand, der nur aus zwei Fingergliedknochen besteht und aufgrund seiner Position und Beweglichkeit den anderen Fingern gegenübergestellt werden kann eine Stadt in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Deutschland

Where the eye mixes Daumen and Dülmen

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

6 ch
Daumen
6 ch
Dülmen

Why the eye confuses Daumen with Dülmen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Daumen is [ˈdaʊ̯mən] while Dülmen is [ˈdʏlmən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39379, 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]. Dülmen is at rank #34,597, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈdʏlmən].

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 39379, this pair ranks #1,538,433 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Daumen vs Dülmen

Shared letters: demn. Private to "Daumen": au. Private to "Dülmen": .

"Daumen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Dülmen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Daumen" for "Dülmen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Daumen" is a noun and "Dülmen" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Daumen" vs "Dülmen" - which ranks higher?
"Daumen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,782 in our German list, against #34,597 for "Dülmen". 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 "Daumen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Dülmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,538,433 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Daumen" and "Dülmen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duften vs Dülmen". 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 #1,538,433 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