DuftvsDunstWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,850
“Duft” frequency rank
#30,012
“Dunst” frequency rank
38862
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Duft Dunst
Definition ein angenehmer Geruch, der sich verbreitet oder ausgebracht wird; organische oder chemische Verbindung feiner Nebel

Where the eye mixes Duft and Dunst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Duft
5 ch
Dunst

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Duft ([dʊft]) and Dunst ([dʊnst]) 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 38862, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Duft is recorded at frequency rank #8,850, classified as anoun, pronounced [dʊft]. Dunst is at rank #30,012, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dʊnst].

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 38862, this pair ranks #1,552,653 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Duft vs Dunst

Shared letters: dtu. Private to "Duft": f. Private to "Dunst": ns.

"Duft" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Dunst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Duftdduft · dfut · dufft · duftt · dutf · udft
  • Dunstddunst · dnust · dunnst · dunsst · dunstt · dunts · dusnt · udnst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Duft" and "Dunst" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([dʊft] versus [dʊnst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Duft" or "Dunst"?
"Duft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,850 in our German list, against #30,012 for "Dunst". 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 "Duft" and "Dunst". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Duft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Dunst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,552,653 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Duft" and "Dunst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Düne vs Dunst". 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