GlarusvsGrausWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Glarus is a name, Graus is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Glarus” is a name and “Graus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,367
“Glarus” frequency rank
#43,228
“Graus” frequency rank
79595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Glarus Graus
Definition politische Gemeinde und Hauptort des gleichnamigen Kantons etwas entsetzlich Fürchterliches

Where the eye mixes Glarus and Graus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Glarus
5 ch
Graus

Why the eye confuses Glarus with Graus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Glarus is [ˈɡlaːʁʊs] while Graus is [ɡʁaʊ̯s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Glarus is recorded at frequency rank #36,367, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈɡlaːʁʊs]. Graus is at rank #43,228, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡʁaʊ̯s].

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 79595, this pair ranks #213,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Glarus vs Graus

Shared letters: agrsu. Private to "Glarus": l. Private to "Graus": -.

"Glarus" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Graus" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Glarusgalrus · gglarus · glarrus · glarsu · glaruss · glaurs · gllarus · glraus
  • Grausgarus · ggraus · grasu · grauss · grraus · gruas · rgaus

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Glarus" and "Graus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Glarus" is a name and "Graus" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Glarus" vs "Graus" - which ranks higher?
"Glarus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,367 in our German list, against #43,228 for "Graus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Glarus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Graus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #213,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Glarus" and "Graus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Graus 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 #213,200 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