gewalttätigvsgewalttätigerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,919
“gewalttätig” frequency rank
#49,733
“gewalttätiger” frequency rank
67652
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gewalttätig gewalttätiger
Definition dazu neigend, andere wiederholt und auffällig unprovoziert (bzw. durch Kleinigkeiten provoziert) oder unangebracht physisch (auch tödlich) zu verletzen Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewalttätig

Where the eye mixes gewalttätig and gewalttätiger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.

11 ch
gewalttätig
13 ch
gewalttätiger

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gewalttätig ([ɡəˈvaltˌtɛːtɪç]) and gewalttätiger ([ɡəˈvaltˌtɛːtɪɡɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “gewalttätig” sits inside “gewalttätiger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67652, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gewalttätig is recorded at frequency rank #17,919, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvaltˌtɛːtɪç]. gewalttätiger is at rank #49,733, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvaltˌtɛːtɪɡɐ].

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 67652, this pair ranks #533,191 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gewalttätig vs gewalttätiger

Shared letters: aegiltwä. Private to "gewalttätig": -. Private to "gewalttätiger": r.

"gewalttätig" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVC  ·  "gewalttätiger" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gewalttätig" and "gewalttätiger" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈvaltˌtɛːtɪç] versus [ɡəˈvaltˌtɛːtɪɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gewalttätig" or "gewalttätiger"?
"gewalttätig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,919 in our German list, against #49,733 for "gewalttätiger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list