dummevsdumpfeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,804
“dumme” frequency rank
#41,117
“dumpfe” frequency rank
44921
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dumme dumpfe
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs dumm Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs dumpf

Where the eye mixes dumme and dumpfe

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

5 ch
dumme
6 ch
dumpfe

Why the eye confuses dumme with dumpfe

A purely visual mix-up. dumme ([ˈdʊmə]) and dumpfe ([ˈdʊmp͡fə]) 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 44921, 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]. dumpfe is at rank #41,117, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊmp͡fə].

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 44921, this pair ranks #1,370,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dumme vs dumpfe

Shared letters: demu. Private to "dumme": -. Private to "dumpfe": fp.

"dumme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "dumpfe" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dummeddumme · dmume · dume · dumem · udmme
  • dumpfeddumpfe · dmupfe · dumfpe · dummpfe · dumpef · dumpffe · dumppfe · dupmfe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dumme" and "dumpfe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʊmə] versus [ˈdʊmp͡fə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dumme" vs "dumpfe" - which ranks higher?
"dumme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,804 in our German list, against #41,117 for "dumpfe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dumme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dumpfe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,370,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dumme" and "dumpfe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dumpf vs dumpfe". 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 #1,370,326 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