hübschvshübscherTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,969
“hübsch” frequency rank
#16,181
“hübscher” frequency rank
20150
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hübsch hübscher
Definition ebenmäßig, schön Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs hübsch

Where the eye mixes hübsch and hübscher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. hübsch runs 6 letters (CVCCCC) against hübscher's 8 (CVCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
hübsch
8 ch
hübscher

Why the eye confuses hübsch with hübscher

A purely visual mix-up. hübsch ([hʏpʃ]) and hübscher ([ˈhʏpʃɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “hübsch” sits inside “hübscher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hübsch is recorded at frequency rank #3,969, classified as anadj, pronounced [hʏpʃ]. hübscher is at rank #16,181, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhʏpʃɐ].

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 20150, this pair ranks #1,900,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hübsch vs hübscher

Shared letters: bchsü. Private to "hübsch": -. Private to "hübscher": er.

"hübsch" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "hübscher" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hübsch" for "hübscher" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([hʏpʃ] versus [ˈhʏpʃɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hübsch" vs "hübscher" - which ranks higher?
"hübsch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,969 in our German list, against #16,181 for "hübscher". 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 "hübsch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hübscher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,900,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hübsch" and "hübscher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Harsch vs hübsch". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,900,725 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