fieservsFliegerConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#39,341
“fieser” frequency rank
#7,468
“Flieger” frequency rank
46809
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fieser Flieger
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs fies Führer eines Fluggerätes

Where the eye mixes fieser and Flieger

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

6 ch
fieser
7 ch
Flieger

Why the eye confuses fieser with Flieger

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fieser is [ˈfiːzɐ] while Flieger is [ˈfliːɡɐ]. 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 46809, 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]. Flieger is at rank #7,468, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfliːɡɐ].

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 46809, this pair ranks #1,306,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fieser vs Flieger

Shared letters: efir. Private to "fieser": s. Private to "Flieger": gl.

"fieser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Flieger" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fieserfeiser · ffieser · fieesr · fieserr · fiesre · fiesser · fiseer · ifeser
  • Fliegerfflieger · fileger · fleiger · flieegr · fliegerr · fliegger · fliegre · fligeer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fieser" for "Flieger" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fieser" is an adjective and "Flieger" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "fieser" or "Flieger" show up more?
"Flieger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,468 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fieser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Flieger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,306,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fieser" and "Flieger" 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 #1,306,234 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