Which to use
“dead” is a noun and “demi” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,587
- “dead” frequency rank
- #36,873
- “demi” frequency rank
- 44460
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dead | demi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Tote, die Toten, die Tote | halb |
Where the eye mixes dead and demi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dead vs demi
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dead is [dɛd] while demi is [də.mi]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dead is recorded at frequency rank #7,587, classified as anoun, pronounced [dɛd]. demi is at rank #36,873, tagged as anadj, pronounced [də.mi].
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 44460, this pair ranks #1,385,512 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dead vs demi
Shared letters: de. Private to "dead": a. Private to "demi": im.
"dead" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "demi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dead" and "demi" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "dead" or "demi" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dead" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "demi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,385,512 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dead" and "demi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "demi vs dess". 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 #1,385,512 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.