Which to use
“Feder” is a noun and “fester” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,362
- “Feder” frequency rank
- #6,534
- “fester” frequency rank
- 14896
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Feder | fester |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aus der Haut von Vögeln wachsendes, aus Keratin bestehendes Gebilde mit einer Art hornigem Stiel (dem sogenannten »Kiel«), von dem aus sich feine rippen- oder fadenartige Verästelungen (die sogenannte »Fahne«) abzweigen, und die Gesamtheit dieser Gebilde das Gefieder bildet | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fest |
Where the eye mixes Feder and fester
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Feder and fester
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Feder is [ˈfeːdɐ] while fester is [ˈfɛstɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Feder is recorded at frequency rank #8,362, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːdɐ]. fester is at rank #6,534, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɛstɐ].
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 14896, this pair ranks #1,947,935 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Feder vs fester
Shared letters: efr. Private to "Feder": d. Private to "fester": st.
"Feder" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fester" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Feder" for "fester" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Feder" vs "fester" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Feder" and "fester" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Feder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fester" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,947,935 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Feder" and "fester" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Feder vs fixer". 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 #1,947,935 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.