FoltervsFüllerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,364
“Folter” frequency rank
#34,108
“Füller” frequency rank
42472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Folter Füller
Definition die Misshandlung oder das Zufügen von körperlichen und seelischen Schmerzen Füllfederhalter, Schreibgerät, das einen Tank für Tinte enthält und somit andauerndes Schreiben ermöglicht

Where the eye mixes Folter and Füller

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Folter and Füller follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Folter
6 ch
Füller

Visual trap between Folter and Füller

A purely visual mix-up. Folter ([ˈfɔltɐ]) and Füller ([ˈfʏlɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Folter is recorded at frequency rank #8,364, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɔltɐ]. Füller is at rank #34,108, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʏlɐ].

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 42472, this pair ranks #1,448,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Folter vs Füller

Shared letters: eflr. Private to "Folter": ot. Private to "Füller": ü.

"Folter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Füller" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Folter ← ffolter · floter · foletr · follter · folterr · foltre · foltter · fotler

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Folter" and "Füller" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɔltɐ] versus [ˈfʏlɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Folter" vs "Füller" - which ranks higher?
"Folter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,364 in our German list, against #34,108 for "Füller". 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 "Folter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Füller" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,448,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Folter" and "Füller" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Füller vs Fünfer". 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 #1,448,244 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