dummevsdümmerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,804
“dumme” frequency rank
#17,265
“dümmer” frequency rank
21069
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dumme dümmer
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs dumm Prädikative und adverbielle Form des Komparativs des Adjektivs dumm

Where the eye mixes dumme and dümmer

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

5 ch
dumme
6 ch
dümmer

Look-alike desk: dumme vs dümmer

A purely visual mix-up. dumme ([ˈdʊmə]) and dümmer ([ˈdʏmɐ]) 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 21069, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dumme is recorded at frequency rank #3,804, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊmə]. dümmer is at rank #17,265, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʏmɐ].

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 21069, this pair ranks #1,890,509 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dumme vs dümmer

Shared letters: dem. Private to "dumme": u. Private to "dümmer": .

"dumme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "dümmer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dummeddumme · dmume · dume · dumem · udmme

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dumme" and "dümmer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʊmə] versus [ˈdʏmɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dumme" or "dümmer"?
"dumme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,804 in our German list, against #17,265 for "dümmer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "dumme" and "dümmer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dumme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dümmer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,890,509 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dumme" and "dümmer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dämmert vs dümmer". 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 #1,890,509 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list