DemutvsDonutWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,852
“Demut” frequency rank
#41,112
“Donut” frequency rank
58964
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Demut Donut
Definition vor allem religiös geprägte Geisteshaltung, bei der sich der Mensch in Erkenntnis der eigenen Unvollkommenheit dem göttlichen Willen unterwirft ein süßes Gebäck in Form eines Ringes, der in heißem Fett ausgebacken wird

Where the eye mixes Demut and Donut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Demut and Donut follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Demut
5 ch
Donut

Why the eye confuses Demut with Donut

A purely visual mix-up. Demut ([ˈdeːmuːt]) and Donut ([ˈdɔʊ̯nat]) 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 58964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Demut is recorded at frequency rank #17,852, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdeːmuːt]. Donut is at rank #41,112, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɔʊ̯nat].

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 58964, this pair ranks #842,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Demut vs Donut

Shared letters: dtu. Private to "Demut": em. Private to "Donut": no.

"Demut" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Donut" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Demut ← ddemut · demmut · demtu · demutt · deumt · dmeut · edmut
  • Donut ← ddonut · dnout · donnut · dontu · donutt · dount · odnut

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Demut" and "Donut" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdeːmuːt] versus [ˈdɔʊ̯nat]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Demut" vs "Donut" - which ranks higher?
"Demut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,852 in our German list, against #41,112 for "Donut". 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 "Demut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Donut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #842,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Demut" and "Donut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dona vs Donut". 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 #842,481 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