Which to use
“Faust” and “Fäusten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,880
- “Faust” frequency rank
- #32,047
- “Fäusten” frequency rank
- 36927
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Faust | Fäusten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hand mit geballten Fingern | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Faust |
Where the eye mixes Faust and Fäusten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Faust runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against Fäusten's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Faust with Fäusten
A purely visual mix-up. Faust ([faʊ̯st]) and Fäusten ([ˈfɔɪ̯stn̩]) 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 36927, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Faust is recorded at frequency rank #4,880, classified as anoun, pronounced [faʊ̯st]. Fäusten is at rank #32,047, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɔɪ̯stn̩].
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 36927, this pair ranks #1,603,119 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Faust vs Fäusten
Shared letters: fstu. Private to "Faust": a. Private to "Fäusten": enä.
"Faust" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "Fäusten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Faust ← afust · fasut · fausst · faustt · fauts · ffaust · fuast
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Faust" and "Fäusten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Faust" or "Fäusten"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Faust" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Fäusten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,603,119 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Faust" and "Fäusten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fäusten vs fügten". 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 #1,603,119 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.