geheimevsgeheimerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,539
“geheime” frequency rank
#15,099
“geheimer” frequency rank
21638
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geheime geheimer
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs geheim Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs geheim

Where the eye mixes geheime and geheimer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. geheime runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against geheimer's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
geheime
8 ch
geheimer

Look-alike desk: geheime vs geheimer

A purely visual mix-up. geheime ([ɡəˈhaɪ̯mə]) and geheimer ([ɡəˈhaɪ̯mɐ]) 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) - “geheime” sits inside “geheimer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geheime is recorded at frequency rank #6,539, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhaɪ̯mə]. geheimer is at rank #15,099, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhaɪ̯mɐ].

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 21638, this pair ranks #1,883,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geheime vs geheimer

Shared letters: eghim. Private to "geheime": -. Private to "geheimer": r.

"geheime" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "geheimer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geheime ← egheime · geehime · geheiem · geheimme · gehemie · gehheime · gehieme · ggeheime
  • geheimer ← egheimer · geehimer · geheiemr · geheimerr · geheimmer · geheimre · gehemier · gehheimer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "geheime" and "geheimer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈhaɪ̯mə] versus [ɡəˈhaɪ̯mɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "geheime" or "geheimer" show up more?
"geheime" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,539 in our German list, against #15,099 for "geheimer". 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 "geheime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geheimer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,883,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geheime" and "geheimer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geheimer vs geheuer". 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 #1,883,886 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