flexiblevsflexiblerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,422
“flexible” frequency rank
#19,907
“flexibler” frequency rank
36329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flexible flexibler
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs flexibel Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs flexibel

Where the eye mixes flexible and flexibler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
flexible
9 ch
flexibler

Visual trap between flexible and flexibler

A purely visual mix-up. flexible ([flɛˈksiːblə]) and flexibler ([flɛˈksiːblɐ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “flexible” sits inside “flexibler”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flexible is recorded at frequency rank #16,422, classified as anadj, pronounced [flɛˈksiːblə]. flexibler is at rank #19,907, tagged as anadj, pronounced [flɛˈksiːblɐ].

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 36329, this pair ranks #1,618,342 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of flexible vs flexibler

Shared letters: befilx. Private to "flexible": -. Private to "flexibler": r.

"flexible" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV  ·  "flexibler" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flexiblefelxible · fflexible · fleixble · flexbile · flexibble · flexiblle · flexilbe · flexxible
  • flexiblerfelxibler · fflexibler · fleixbler · flexbiler · flexibbler · flexibelr · flexiblerr · flexibller

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "flexible" for "flexibler" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([flɛˈksiːblə] versus [flɛˈksiːblɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "flexible" or "flexibler"?
"flexible" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,422 in our German list, against #19,907 for "flexibler". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "flexible" and "flexibler" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "flexible" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "flexibler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,618,342 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "flexible" and "flexibler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flexiblen vs flexibler". 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 #1,618,342 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