Which to use
“irre” is an adjective and “Irrer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,524
- “irre” frequency rank
- #29,180
- “Irrer” frequency rank
- 33704
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | irre | Irrer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | an einer Störung oder Fehlleistung des Geistes- und Seelenlebens (= Geisteskrankheit) leidend | (männliche^☆) Person, die an einer Psychose leidet, die verrückt ist |
Where the eye mixes irre and Irrer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses irre with Irrer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: irre is [ˈɪʁə] while Irrer is [ˈɪʁɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “irre” sits inside “Irrer”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
irre is recorded at frequency rank #4,524, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɪʁə]. Irrer is at rank #29,180, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɪʁɐ].
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 33704, this pair ranks #1,679,896 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of irre vs Irrer
Shared letters: eir. Private to "irre": -. Private to "Irrer": -.
"irre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "Irrer" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "irre" and "Irrer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "irre" vs "Irrer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "irre" and "Irrer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "irre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Irrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,679,896 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "irre" and "Irrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Irrer vs irrte". 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 #1,679,896 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.