dunklervsdünnerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,004
“dunkler” frequency rank
#13,580
“dünner” frequency rank
22584
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dunkler dünner
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs dunkel Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs dünn

Where the eye mixes dunkler and dünner

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

7 ch
dunkler
6 ch
dünner

Look-alike desk: dunkler vs dünner

A purely visual mix-up. dunkler ([ˈdʊŋklɐ]) and dünner ([ˈdʏnɐ]) 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 22584, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dunkler is recorded at frequency rank #9,004, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʊŋklɐ]. dünner is at rank #13,580, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdʏnɐ].

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 22584, this pair ranks #1,872,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dunkler vs dünner

Shared letters: denr. Private to "dunkler": klu. Private to "dünner": ü.

"dunkler" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "dünner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dunklerddunkler · dnukler · duknler · dunkelr · dunkkler · dunklerr · dunkller · dunklre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dunkler" for "dünner" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdʊŋklɐ] versus [ˈdʏnɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dunkler" or "dünner"?
"dunkler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,004 in our German list, against #13,580 for "dünner". 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 "dunkler" and "dünner" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dunkler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dünner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,872,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dunkler" and "dünner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Düne vs dünner". 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 #1,872,395 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