Which to use
“dumm” and “dumme” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,472
- “dumm” frequency rank
- #3,804
- “dumme” frequency rank
- 5276
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dumm | dumme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schwach an Verstand, ohne Intelligenz, ohne Können, unwissend | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs dumm |
Where the eye mixes dumm and dumme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dumm and dumme
A purely visual mix-up. dumm ([dʊm]) and dumme ([ˈdʊmə]) 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) - “dumm” sits inside “dumme”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dumm is recorded at frequency rank #1,472, classified as anadj, pronounced [dʊm]. dumme is at rank #3,804, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊmə].
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 5276, this pair ranks #1,995,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dumm vs dumme
Shared letters: dmu. Private to "dumm": -. Private to "dumme": e.
"dumm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dumme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dumm" for "dumme" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dumm" vs "dumme" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "dumm" and "dumme" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dumm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dumme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,995,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dumm" and "dumme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dumme vs Düne". 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 #1,995,278 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.