Which to use
“dumm” and “dummen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,472
- “dumm” frequency rank
- #7,032
- “dummen” frequency rank
- 8504
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dumm | dummen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schwach an Verstand, ohne Intelligenz, ohne Können, unwissend | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs dumm |
Where the eye mixes dumm and dummen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dumm vs dummen
A purely visual mix-up. dumm ([dʊm]) and dummen ([ˈdʊmən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “dumm” sits inside “dummen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8504, 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]. dummen is at rank #7,032, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊmən].
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 8504, this pair ranks #1,984,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dumm vs dummen
Shared letters: dmu. Private to "dumm": -. Private to "dummen": en.
"dumm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "dummen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dumm" and "dummen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "dumm" or "dummen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dumm" and "dummen" 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 "dummen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,984,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dumm" and "dummen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dummen vs Dummies". 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 #1,984,018 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.