doofvsdoofeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,418
“doof” frequency rank
#23,085
“doofe” frequency rank
27503
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature doof doofe
Definition dumm, beschränkt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs doof

Where the eye mixes doof and doofe

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

4 ch
doof
5 ch
doofe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. doof ([doːf]) and doofe ([ˈdoːfə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “doof” sits inside “doofe”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27503, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

doof is recorded at frequency rank #4,418, classified as anadj, pronounced [doːf]. doofe is at rank #23,085, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdoːfə].

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 27503, this pair ranks #1,800,737 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of doof vs doofe

Shared letters: dfo. Private to "doof": -. Private to "doofe": e.

"doof" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "doofe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doofddoof · dof · dofo · dooff · odof
  • doofeddoofe · dofe · dofoe · dooef · dooffe · odofe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "doof" and "doofe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([doːf] versus [ˈdoːfə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "doof" or "doofe"?
"doof" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,418 in our German list, against #23,085 for "doofe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "doof" and "doofe". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "doof" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "doofe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,800,737 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "doof" and "doofe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "doofe vs Dorfen". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list