feinstevsFlinteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: feinste is a adjective, Flinte is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“feinste” is an adjective and “Flinte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,866
“feinste” frequency rank
#36,327
“Flinte” frequency rank
63193
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feinste Flinte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs fein Gewehr mit glattem Lauf, zum Verschießen von Schrot

Where the eye mixes feinste and Flinte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
feinste
6 ch
Flinte

Why the eye confuses feinste with Flinte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feinste is [ˈfaɪ̯nstə] while Flinte is [ˈflɪntə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63193, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feinste is recorded at frequency rank #26,866, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯nstə]. Flinte is at rank #36,327, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈflɪntə].

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 63193, this pair ranks #685,445 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feinste vs Flinte

Shared letters: efint. Private to "feinste": s. Private to "Flinte": l.

"feinste" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV  ·  "Flinte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feinsteefinste · feinnste · feinset · feinsste · feinstte · feintse · feisnte · feniste
  • Flintefflinte · filnte · flinet · flinnte · flintte · flitne · fllinte · flnite

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "feinste" and "Flinte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "feinste" is an adjective and "Flinte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "feinste" or "Flinte" show up more?
"feinste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,866 in our German list, against #36,327 for "Flinte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "feinste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Flinte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #685,445 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feinste" and "Flinte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Flaute vs Flinte". 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 #685,445 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