idolevsileConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#45,359
“idole” frequency rank
#48,983
“ile” frequency rank
94342
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature idole ile
Definition Abgott, Abgöttin, Götze, Götzenbild, Idol Haar n

Letter map: idole vs ile

Shared letters muted; letters that set idole and ile apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. idole runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against ile's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
idole
3 ch
ile

Corpus notes: idole and ile

idole and ile are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 94342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

idole is recorded at frequency rank #45,359, classified as anoun, pronounced [i.dɔl]. ile is at rank #48,983, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 94342, this pair ranks #17,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of idole vs ile

Shared letters: eil. Private to "idole": do. Private to "ile": -.

"idole" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ile" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • idole ← diole · iddole · idloe · idoel · idolle · iodle

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "idole" and "ile" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary German text, does "idole" or "ile" show up more?
"idole" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45,359 in our German list, against #48,983 for "ile". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "idole" vs "ile" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "idole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "idole" and "ile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ile vs puzzles". 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 #17,318 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