fieservsfinsterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,341
“fieser” frequency rank
#23,932
“finster” frequency rank
63273
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fieser finster
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs fies sehr dunkel

Where the eye mixes fieser and finster

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fieser runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against finster's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
fieser
7 ch
finster

Look-alike desk: fieser vs finster

A purely visual mix-up. fieser ([ˈfiːzɐ]) and finster ([ˈfɪnstɐ]) 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 63273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fieser is recorded at frequency rank #39,341, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfiːzɐ]. finster is at rank #23,932, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɪnstɐ].

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 63273, this pair ranks #682,635 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fieser vs finster

Shared letters: efirs. Private to "fieser": -. Private to "finster": nt.

"fieser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "finster" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fieser ← feiser · ffieser · fieesr · fieserr · fiesre · fiesser · fiseer · ifeser
  • finster ← ffinster · finnster · finsetr · finsster · finsterr · finstre · finstter · fintser

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fieser" for "finster" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfiːzɐ] versus [ˈfɪnstɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fieser" vs "finster" - which ranks higher?
"finster" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,932 in our German list, against #39,341 for "fieser". 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 "fieser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "finster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #682,635 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fieser" and "finster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fieser 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 #682,635 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