dummenvsdümmerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,032
“dummen” frequency rank
#17,265
“dümmer” frequency rank
24297
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dummen dümmer
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs dumm Prädikative und adverbielle Form des Komparativs des Adjektivs dumm

Where the eye mixes dummen and dümmer

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

6 ch
dummen
6 ch
dümmer

Look-alike desk: dummen vs dümmer

A purely visual mix-up. dummen ([ˈdʊmən]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dummen is recorded at frequency rank #7,032, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊmən]. 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 24297, this pair ranks #1,849,623 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dummen vs dümmer

Shared letters: dem. Private to "dummen": nu. Private to "dümmer": .

"dummen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "dümmer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dummenddummen · dmumen · dumemn · dumen · dummenn · dummne · udmmen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dummen" for "dümmer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʊmən] versus [ˈdʏmɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dummen" vs "dümmer" - which ranks higher?
"dummen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,032 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dummen" 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 #1,849,623 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dummen" 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 #1,849,623 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