extremvsextremerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,511
“extrem” frequency rank
#18,534
“extremer” frequency rank
20045
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature extrem extremer
Definition in irgend einem Maße nicht zu übertreffen; am weitesten von der Mitte oder dem Durchschnitt entfernt Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs extrem

Where the eye mixes extrem and extremer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. extrem runs 6 letters (VCCCVC) against extremer's 8 (VCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
extrem
8 ch
extremer

Look-alike desk: extrem vs extremer

A purely visual mix-up. extrem ([ɛksˈtʁeːm]) and extremer ([ɛksˈtʁeːmɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “extrem” sits inside “extremer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20045, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

extrem is recorded at frequency rank #1,511, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛksˈtʁeːm]. extremer is at rank #18,534, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛksˈtʁeːmɐ].

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 20045, this pair ranks #1,901,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of extrem vs extremer

Shared letters: emrtx. Private to "extrem": -. Private to "extremer": -.

"extrem" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "extremer" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • extrem ← etxrem · exrtem · exterm · extremm · extrme · extrrem · exttrem · exxtrem
  • extremer ← etxremer · exrtemer · extermer · extreemr · extremerr · extremmer · extremre · extrmeer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "extrem" for "extremer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛksˈtʁeːm] versus [ɛksˈtʁeːmɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "extrem" or "extremer" show up more?
"extrem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,511 in our German list, against #18,534 for "extremer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "extrem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "extremer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,901,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "extrem" and "extremer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "extremer vs extremes". 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 #1,901,887 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