definiertevsdominierteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,555
“definierte” frequency rank
#21,572
“dominierte” frequency rank
39127
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature definierte dominierte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs definiert Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs dominiert

Where the eye mixes definierte and dominierte

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

10 ch
definierte
10 ch
dominierte

Look-alike desk: definierte vs dominierte

A purely visual mix-up. definierte ([defiˈniːɐ̯tə]) and dominierte ([domiˈniːɐ̯tə]) 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 39127, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

definierte is recorded at frequency rank #17,555, classified as anadj, pronounced [defiˈniːɐ̯tə]. dominierte is at rank #21,572, tagged as anadj, pronounced [domiˈniːɐ̯tə].

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 39127, this pair ranks #1,545,368 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of definierte vs dominierte

Shared letters: deinrt. Private to "definierte": f. Private to "dominierte": mo.

"definierte" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCCV  ·  "dominierte" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • definierteddefinierte · deffinierte · defiinerte · defineirte · definieret · definierrte · definiertte · definietre
  • dominierteddominierte · dmoinierte · doimnierte · domiinerte · domineirte · dominieret · dominierrte · dominiertte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "definierte" for "dominierte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([defiˈniːɐ̯tə] versus [domiˈniːɐ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "definierte" or "dominierte" show up more?
"definierte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,555 in our German list, against #21,572 for "dominierte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "definierte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dominierte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,545,368 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "definierte" and "dominierte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "definiere vs definierte". 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 #1,545,368 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