gemaltevsgewagteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,556
“gemalte” frequency rank
#38,141
“gewagte” frequency rank
78697
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gemalte gewagte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gemalt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewagt

Where the eye mixes gemalte and gewagte

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

7 ch
gemalte
7 ch
gewagte

Visual trap between gemalte and gewagte

A purely visual mix-up. gemalte ([ɡəˈmaːltə]) and gewagte ([ɡəˈvaːktə]) 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 78697, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gemalte is recorded at frequency rank #40,556, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈmaːltə]. gewagte is at rank #38,141, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvaːktə].

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 78697, this pair ranks #232,511 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gemalte vs gewagte

Shared letters: aegt. Private to "gemalte": lm. Private to "gewagte": w.

"gemalte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "gewagte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gemalteegmalte · geamlte · gemalet · gemallte · gemaltte · gematle · gemlate · gemmalte
  • gewagteegwagte · geawgte · gewaget · gewaggte · gewagtte · gewatge · gewgate · gewwagte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gemalte" and "gewagte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈmaːltə] versus [ɡəˈvaːktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gemalte" vs "gewagte" - which ranks higher?
"gewagte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,141 in our German list, against #40,556 for "gemalte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gemalte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gewagte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #232,511 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gemalte" and "gewagte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gemalte vs gestalte". 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 #232,511 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