Which to use
“Farbe” and “Farbige” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,592
- “Farbe” frequency rank
- #15,084
- “Farbige” frequency rank
- 16676
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Farbe | Farbige |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein bestimmter Abschnitt des sichtbaren Lichts im Spektrum der elektromagnetischen Wellen | weibliche Person, die einer Bevölkerungsgruppe angehört, deren Haut stark pigmentiert ist, im Gegensatz zum gering pigmentierten Menschentyp, der für Europa, Nordafrika und das westliche Asien charakteristisch ist |
Where the eye mixes Farbe and Farbige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Farbe with Farbige
A purely visual mix-up. Farbe ([ˈfaʁbə]) and Farbige ([ˈfaʁbɪɡə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16676, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Farbe is recorded at frequency rank #1,592, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaʁbə]. Farbige is at rank #15,084, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaʁbɪɡə].
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 16676, this pair ranks #1,933,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Farbe vs Farbige
Shared letters: abefr. Private to "Farbe": -. Private to "Farbige": gi.
"Farbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Farbige" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Farbe" for "Farbige" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Farbe" vs "Farbige" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Farbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Farbige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,933,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Farbe" and "Farbige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fällige vs Farbige". 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 #1,933,890 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.