GlotzevsGrotteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,134
“Glotze” frequency rank
#32,070
“Grotte” frequency rank
66204
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Glotze Grotte
Definition Gerät für den Empfang von Fernsehsendungen Höhle, die nur eine relativ kurze Strecke in den Felsen reicht, oftmals auch eine künstlich angelegte Höhle

Where the eye mixes Glotze and Grotte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Glotze and Grotte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Glotze
6 ch
Grotte

Why the eye confuses Glotze with Grotte

A purely visual mix-up. Glotze ([ˈɡlɔt͡sə]) and Grotte ([ˈɡʁɔtə]) 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 66204, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Glotze is recorded at frequency rank #34,134, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡlɔt͡sə]. Grotte is at rank #32,070, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁɔtə].

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 66204, this pair ranks #581,071 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Glotze vs Grotte

Shared letters: egot. Private to "Glotze": lz. Private to "Grotte": r.

"Glotze" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Grotte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Glotze ← gglotze · gllotze · glotez · glottze · glotzze · glozte · gltoze · goltze
  • Grotte ← ggrotte · gortte · grote · grotet · grrotte · grtote · rgotte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Glotze" for "Grotte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡlɔt͡sə] versus [ˈɡʁɔtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Glotze" or "Grotte" show up more?
"Grotte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,070 in our German list, against #34,134 for "Glotze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Glotze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Grotte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #581,071 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Glotze" and "Grotte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Glotze vs glotzen". 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 #581,071 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