feierlichvsfeierlichenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#12,281
“feierlich” frequency rank
#16,701
“feierlichen” frequency rank
28982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feierlich feierlichen
Definition in der Art und Weise einer Feier, auf eine Feier bezogen; mit festlicher Stimmung oder Ausstattung Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs feierlich

Where the eye mixes feierlich and feierlichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. feierlich runs 9 letters (CVVVCCVCC) against feierlichen's 11 (CVVVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
feierlich
11 ch
feierlichen

Visual trap between feierlich and feierlichen

A purely visual mix-up. feierlich ([ˈfaɪ̯ɐˌlɪç]) and feierlichen ([ˈfaɪ̯ɐˌlɪçn̩]) 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) - “feierlich” sits inside “feierlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feierlich is recorded at frequency rank #12,281, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ɐˌlɪç]. feierlichen is at rank #16,701, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ɐˌlɪçn̩].

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 28982, this pair ranks #1,775,128 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of feierlich vs feierlichen

Shared letters: cefhilr. Private to "feierlich": -. Private to "feierlichen": n.

"feierlich" · 9 letters · shape CVVVCCVCC  ·  "feierlichen" · 11 letters · shape CVVVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feierlichefierlich · feeirlich · feielrich · feierilch · feierlcih · feierlicch · feierlichh · feierlihc
  • feierlichenefierlichen · feeirlichen · feielrichen · feierilchen · feierlcihen · feierlicchen · feierlicehn · feierlichenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feierlich" and "feierlichen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaɪ̯ɐˌlɪç] versus [ˈfaɪ̯ɐˌlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "feierlich" or "feierlichen" show up more?
"feierlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,281 in our German list, against #16,701 for "feierlichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "feierlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "feierlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,775,128 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feierlich" and "feierlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feierlich vs feindlich". 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 #1,775,128 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