KadervsKöterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,902
“Kader” frequency rank
#33,162
“Köter” frequency rank
38064
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kader Köter
Definition Gesamtheit der Angehörigen einer etablierten (politischen) Elite; Gesamtheit der leitenden Funktionäre einer Partei- oder Massenorganisation, der leitenden Angestellten eines Unternehmens und so weiter Hund^([1])

Where the eye mixes Kader and Köter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Kader and Köter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Kader
5 ch
Köter

Visual trap between Kader and Köter

A purely visual mix-up. Kader ([ˈkaːdɐ]) and Köter ([ˈkøːtɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38064, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kader is recorded at frequency rank #4,902, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaːdɐ]. Köter is at rank #33,162, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkøːtɐ].

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 38064, this pair ranks #1,573,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kader vs Köter

Shared letters: ekr. Private to "Kader": ad. Private to "Köter": tö.

"Kader" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Köter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kader ← akder · kadder · kaderr · kadre · kaedr · kdaer · kkader

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kader" for "Köter" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaːdɐ] versus [ˈkøːtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Kader" vs "Köter" - which ranks higher?
"Kader" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,902 in our German list, against #33,162 for "Köter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kader" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Köter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,573,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kader" and "Köter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Köter vs Kutter". 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 #1,573,740 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