Which to use
“Gräuel” is a noun and “graues” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,326
- “Gräuel” frequency rank
- #32,066
- “graues” frequency rank
- 77392
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gräuel | graues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine erschreckend grausame Handlung, öfters eine Handlung von abnormaler oder illegaler Grausamkeit durch eine bewaffnete Streitmacht gegenüber Zivilisten oder Gefangenen | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs grau |
Where the eye mixes Gräuel and graues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Gräuel and graues follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Gräuel with graues
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gräuel is [ˈɡʁɔɪ̯əl] while graues is [ˈɡʁaʊ̯əs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Gräuel is recorded at frequency rank #45,326, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁɔɪ̯əl]. graues is at rank #32,066, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʁaʊ̯əs].
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 77392, this pair ranks #261,742 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Gräuel vs graues
Shared letters: egru. Private to "Gräuel": lä. Private to "graues": as.
"Gräuel" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC · "graues" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- graues ← garues · ggraues · graeus · grauess · grause · grraues · gruaes · rgaues
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Gräuel" for "graues" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Gräuel" or "graues"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Gräuel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "graues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #261,742 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gräuel" and "graues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gräuel 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 #261,742 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.