extremvsextremesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,511
“extrem” frequency rank
#43,858
“extremes” frequency rank
45369
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes extrem and extremes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
extrem
8 ch
extremes

Look-alike desk: extrem vs extremes

A purely visual mix-up. extrem ([ɛksˈtʁeːm]) and extremes ([ɛksˈtʁeːməs]) 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 “extremes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45369, 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]. extremes is at rank #43,858, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛksˈtʁeːməs].

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 45369, this pair ranks #1,355,348 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of extrem vs extremes

Shared letters: emrtx. Private to "extrem": -. Private to "extremes": s.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • extremetxrem · exrtem · exterm · extremm · extrme · extrrem · exttrem · exxtrem
  • extremesetxremes · exrtemes · extermes · extreems · extremess · extremmes · extremse · extrmees

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "extrem" and "extremes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛksˈtʁeːm] versus [ɛksˈtʁeːməs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "extrem" vs "extremes" - which ranks higher?
"extrem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,511 in our German list, against #43,858 for "extremes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "extrem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "extremes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,355,348 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "extrem" and "extremes" 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 #1,355,348 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