Which to use
“gerade” is an adjective and “geradezu” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #155
- “gerade” frequency rank
- #5,489
- “geradezu” frequency rank
- 5644
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gerade | geradezu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht gebogen oder gekrümmt | durchaus, wahrlich |
Where the eye mixes gerade and geradezu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: gerade vs geradezu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gerade is [ɡəˈʁaːdə] while geradezu is [ɡəˈʁaːdət͡suː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “gerade” sits inside “geradezu”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gerade is recorded at frequency rank #155, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʁaːdə]. geradezu is at rank #5,489, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ɡəˈʁaːdət͡suː].
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 5644, this pair ranks #1,994,153 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gerade vs geradezu
Shared letters: adegr. Private to "gerade": -. Private to "geradezu": uz.
"gerade" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "geradezu" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gerade" for "geradezu" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "gerade" or "geradezu" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gerade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "geradezu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,994,153 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gerade" and "geradezu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gerade vs grave". 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 #1,994,153 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.