Which to use
“düstere” and “düsterer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,266
- “düstere” frequency rank
- #39,899
- “düsterer” frequency rank
- 57165
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | düstere | düsterer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs düster | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs düster |
Where the eye mixes düstere and düsterer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: düstere vs düsterer
A purely visual mix-up. düstere ([ˈdyːstəʁə]) and düsterer ([ˈdyːstəʁɐ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “düstere” sits inside “düsterer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
düstere is recorded at frequency rank #17,266, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdyːstəʁə]. düsterer is at rank #39,899, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈdyːstəʁɐ].
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 57165, this pair ranks #911,956 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of düstere vs düsterer
Shared letters: derstü. Private to "düstere": -. Private to "düsterer": -.
"düstere" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "düsterer" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "düstere" and "düsterer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "düstere" or "düsterer" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "düstere" and "düsterer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "düstere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "düsterer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #911,956 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "düstere" and "düsterer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "düsteren vs düsterer". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #911,956 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.