definierenvsdominierenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,588
“definieren” frequency rank
#13,339
“dominieren” frequency rank
20927
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature definieren dominieren
Definition bestimmen, festlegen jemanden, etwas beherrschen

Where the eye mixes definieren and dominieren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. definieren and dominieren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
definieren
10 ch
dominieren

Visual trap between definieren and dominieren

A purely visual mix-up. definieren ([defiˈniːʁən]) and dominieren ([domiˈniːʁən]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20927, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

definieren is recorded at frequency rank #7,588, classified as averb, pronounced [defiˈniːʁən]. dominieren is at rank #13,339, tagged as averb, pronounced [domiˈniːʁən].

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 20927, this pair ranks #1,892,143 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of definieren vs dominieren

Shared letters: deinr. Private to "definieren": f. Private to "dominieren": mo.

"definieren" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC  ·  "dominieren" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • definierenddefinieren · deffinieren · defiineren · defineiren · definieern · definierenn · definierne · definierren
  • dominierenddominieren · dmoinieren · doimnieren · domiineren · domineiren · dominieern · dominierenn · dominierne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "definieren" and "dominieren" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([defiˈniːʁən] versus [domiˈniːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "definieren" vs "dominieren" - which ranks higher?
"definieren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,588 in our German list, against #13,339 for "dominieren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "definieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dominieren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,892,143 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "definieren" and "dominieren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dominieren vs dominierende". 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 #1,892,143 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