fevervsFieberWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fever and Fieber apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
fever
6 ch
Fieber

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • feverefver · feevr · feverr · fevre · fevver · ffever · fveer
  • Fieberfeiber · ffieber · fibeer · fiebber · fieberr · fiebre · fieebr · ifeber

Frequency comparison

fever#38,100
Fieber#5,828

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fever" and "Fieber" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfiːvə] versus [ˈfiːbɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fever" or "Fieber"?
"Fieber" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,828 in our German list, against #38,100 for "fever". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fever vs Fieber

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fever” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list