ekelhaftevsekelhaftenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,611
“ekelhafte” frequency rank
#45,244
“ekelhaften” frequency rank
79855
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ekelhafte ekelhaften
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ekelhaft Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ekelhaft

Where the eye mixes ekelhafte and ekelhaften

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. ekelhafte runs 9 letters (VCVCCVCCV) against ekelhaften's 10 (VCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
ekelhafte
10 ch
ekelhaften

Why the eye confuses ekelhafte with ekelhaften

A purely visual mix-up. ekelhafte ([ˈeːkl̩haftə]) and ekelhaften ([ˈeːkl̩haftn̩]) 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) - “ekelhafte” sits inside “ekelhaften”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ekelhafte is recorded at frequency rank #34,611, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːkl̩haftə]. ekelhaften is at rank #45,244, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːkl̩haftn̩].

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 79855, this pair ranks #207,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ekelhafte vs ekelhaften

Shared letters: aefhklt. Private to "ekelhafte": -. Private to "ekelhaften": n.

"ekelhafte" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCV  ·  "ekelhaften" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ekelhafte ← eeklhafte · ekehlafte · ekelahfte · ekelhafet · ekelhaffte · ekelhaftte · ekelhatfe · ekelhfate
  • ekelhaften ← eeklhaften · ekehlaften · ekelahften · ekelhafetn · ekelhafften · ekelhaftenn · ekelhaftne · ekelhaftten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ekelhafte" and "ekelhaften" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈeːkl̩haftə] versus [ˈeːkl̩haftn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ekelhafte" or "ekelhaften"?
"ekelhafte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,611 in our German list, against #45,244 for "ekelhaften". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ekelhafte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ekelhaften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #207,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ekelhafte" and "ekelhaften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ekelhaft vs ekelhaften". 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 #207,618 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