Which to use
“dead” is a noun and “dess” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,587
- “dead” frequency rank
- #48,817
- “dess” frequency rank
- 56404
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dead | dess |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Tote, die Toten, die Tote | 3. Person Utrum Singular Genitiv des Personalpronomens den |
Where the eye mixes dead and dess
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dead and dess
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dead is [dɛd] while dess is [ˈdɛ̝sː]. 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 unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56404, 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]. dess is at rank #48,817, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈdɛ̝sː].
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 56404, this pair ranks #941,496 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dead vs dess
Shared letters: de. Private to "dead": a. Private to "dess": s.
"dead" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "dess" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dead" and "dess" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dead" or "dess"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dead" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dess" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #941,496 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dead" and "dess" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dess vs dew". 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 #941,496 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.