Which to use
“dess” is an unknown and “Dez” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,817
- “dess” frequency rank
- #13,123
- “Dez” frequency rank
- 61940
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dess | Dez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Utrum Singular Genitiv des Personalpronomens den | regional, mitteldeutsch: umgangssprachliche/saloppe Bezeichnung für Kopf |
Where the eye mixes dess and Dez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dess vs Dez
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dess is [ˈdɛ̝sː] while Dez is [deːt͡s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61940, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dess is recorded at frequency rank #48,817, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈdɛ̝sː]. Dez is at rank #13,123, tagged as anoun, pronounced [deːt͡s].
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 61940, this pair ranks #731,097 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dess vs Dez
Shared letters: de. Private to "dess": s. Private to "Dez": z.
"dess" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Dez" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dess ← ddess · deß · dses · edss
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dess" for "Dez" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dess" or "Dez"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dess" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Dez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #731,097 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dess" and "Dez" 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 #731,097 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.