Which to use
“grauem” and “grausam” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,976
- “grauem” frequency rank
- #9,920
- “grausam” frequency rank
- 49896
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grauem | grausam |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs grau | durch eine derartige Gefühlskälte, Skrupellosigkeit und meist Reuelosigkeit gekennzeichnet, dass es Grauen (im Sinne von Furcht, Entsetzen) hervorruft |
Where the eye mixes grauem and grausam
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. grauem runs 6 letters (CCVVVC) against grausam's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses grauem with grausam
A purely visual mix-up. grauem ([ˈɡʁaʊ̯əm]) and grausam ([ˈɡʁaʊ̯ˌzaːm]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grauem is recorded at frequency rank #39,976, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʁaʊ̯əm]. grausam is at rank #9,920, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʁaʊ̯ˌzaːm].
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 49896, this pair ranks #1,194,304 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grauem vs grausam
Shared letters: agmru. Private to "grauem": e. Private to "grausam": s.
"grauem" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC · "grausam" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "grauem" and "grausam" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "grauem" or "grausam" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "grauem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grausam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,194,304 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grauem" and "grausam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grauem 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 #1,194,304 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.