göttlichevsgöttlicherWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,315
“göttliche” frequency rank
#37,551
“göttlicher” frequency rank
51866
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature göttliche göttlicher
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs göttlich Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs göttlich

Where the eye mixes göttliche and göttlicher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
göttliche
10 ch
göttlicher

Look-alike desk: göttliche vs göttlicher

A purely visual mix-up. göttliche ([ˈɡœtlɪçə]) and göttlicher ([ˈɡœtlɪçɐ]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “göttliche” sits inside “göttlicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51866, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

göttliche is recorded at frequency rank #14,315, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡœtlɪçə]. göttlicher is at rank #37,551, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡœtlɪçɐ].

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 51866, this pair ranks #1,118,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of göttliche vs göttlicher

Shared letters: ceghiltö. Private to "göttliche": -. Private to "göttlicher": r.

"göttliche" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV  ·  "göttlicher" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "göttliche" for "göttlicher" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡœtlɪçə] versus [ˈɡœtlɪçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "göttliche" vs "göttlicher" - which ranks higher?
"göttliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,315 in our German list, against #37,551 for "göttlicher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "göttliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "göttlicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,118,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "göttliche" and "göttlicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "göttlicher vs göttliches". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,118,984 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