Which to use
“fever” and “Fieber” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,100
- “fever” frequency rank
- #5,828
- “Fieber” frequency rank
- 43928
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fever | Fieber |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fieber | Erhöhung der Körpertemperatur im Krankheitsfall; Schutzreaktion des Körpers, um Krankheitserreger abzutöten |
Where the eye mixes fever and Fieber
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fever runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Fieber's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fever and Fieber
A purely visual mix-up. fever ([ˈfiːvə]) and Fieber ([ˈfiːbɐ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43928, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fever is recorded at frequency rank #38,100, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfiːvə]. Fieber is at rank #5,828, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfiːbɐ].
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 43928, this pair ranks #1,402,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fever vs Fieber
Shared letters: efr. Private to "fever": v. Private to "Fieber": bi.
"fever" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Fieber" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fever" for "Fieber" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fever" vs "Fieber" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fever" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Fieber" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,402,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fever" and "Fieber" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fever 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 #1,402,549 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.