Which to use
“dunkel” and “dünnem” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,030
- “dunkel” frequency rank
- #42,439
- “dünnem” frequency rank
- 45469
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dunkel | dünnem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ohne oder mit wenig Licht, lichtlos | Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs dünn |
Where the eye mixes dunkel and dünnem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. dunkel and dünnem follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: dunkel vs dünnem
A purely visual mix-up. dunkel ([ˈdʊŋkl̩]) and dünnem ([ˈdʏnəm]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45469, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dunkel is recorded at frequency rank #3,030, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊŋkl̩]. dünnem is at rank #42,439, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʏnəm].
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 45469, this pair ranks #1,351,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dunkel vs dünnem
Shared letters: den. Private to "dunkel": klu. Private to "dünnem": mü.
"dunkel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "dünnem" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dunkel ← ddunkel · dnukel · duknel · dunekl · dunkell · dunkkel · dunnkel · udnkel
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dunkel" for "dünnem" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dunkel" vs "dünnem" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dunkel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dünnem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,351,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dunkel" and "dünnem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Düne vs dünnem". 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 #1,351,945 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.