gustovsguteConfusable pair

Quick tell: gusto is a noun, gute is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gusto” is a noun and “gute” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,376
“gusto” frequency rank
#226
“gute” frequency rank
36602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gusto gute
Definition Geschmack Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gut

Where the eye mixes gusto and gute

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. gusto runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against gute's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
gusto
4 ch
gute

Look-alike desk: gusto vs gute

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gusto is [ˈɡusto] while gute is [ˈɡuːtə]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gusto is recorded at frequency rank #36,376, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡusto]. gute is at rank #226, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡuːtə].

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 36602, this pair ranks #1,611,371 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gusto vs gute

Shared letters: gtu. Private to "gusto": os. Private to "gute": e.

"gusto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "gute" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gusto ← ggusto · gsuto · gusot · gussto · gustto · gutso · ugsto
  • gute ← ggute · gtue · guet · gutte · ugte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gusto" and "gute" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gusto" is a noun and "gute" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gusto" or "gute"?
"gute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #226 in our German list, against #36,376 for "gusto". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gusto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,611,371 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gusto" and "gute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gustl vs gusto". 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 #1,611,371 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