DegenvsDiebenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,538
“Degen” frequency rank
#36,880
“Dieben” frequency rank
56418
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Degen Dieben
Definition Handwaffe mit Griff und langer Klinge zum Schlagen oder Stoßen Dativ Plural des Substantivs Dieb

Where the eye mixes Degen and Dieben

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

5 ch
Degen
6 ch
Dieben

Visual trap between Degen and Dieben

A purely visual mix-up. Degen ([ˈdeːɡn̩]) and Dieben ([ˈdiːbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56418, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Degen is recorded at frequency rank #19,538, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdeːɡn̩]. Dieben is at rank #36,880, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdiːbn̩].

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 56418, this pair ranks #940,927 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Degen vs Dieben

Shared letters: den. Private to "Degen": g. Private to "Dieben": bi.

"Degen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Dieben" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Degenddegen · deegn · degenn · deggen · degne · dgeen · edgen
  • Diebenddieben · deiben · dibeen · diebben · diebenn · diebne · dieebn · ideben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Degen" and "Dieben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdeːɡn̩] versus [ˈdiːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Degen" or "Dieben"?
"Degen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,538 in our German list, against #36,880 for "Dieben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Degen" and "Dieben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Degen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Dieben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #940,927 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Degen" and "Dieben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dieben vs dissen". 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 #940,927 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