feinervsfetterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,426
“feiner” frequency rank
#18,238
“fetter” frequency rank
29664
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feiner fetter
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs fein Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fett

Where the eye mixes feiner and fetter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
feiner
6 ch
fetter

Visual trap between feiner and fetter

A purely visual mix-up. feiner ([ˈfaɪ̯nɐ]) and fetter ([ˈfɛtɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29664, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feiner is recorded at frequency rank #11,426, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯nɐ]. fetter is at rank #18,238, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɛtɐ].

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 29664, this pair ranks #1,762,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of feiner vs fetter

Shared letters: efr. Private to "feiner": in. Private to "fetter": t.

"feiner" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "fetter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feinerefiner · feinerr · feinner · feinre · fenier · ffeiner · fiener
  • fettereftter · feter · fetetr · fetterr · fettre · ffetter · fteter

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "feiner" for "fetter" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaɪ̯nɐ] versus [ˈfɛtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "feiner" or "fetter"?
"feiner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,426 in our German list, against #18,238 for "fetter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "feiner" and "fetter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "feiner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fetter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,762,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feiner" and "fetter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fender vs fetter". 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 #1,762,565 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