KaiservsKaterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,636
“Kaiser” frequency rank
#7,347
“Kater” frequency rank
8983
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kaiser Kater
Definition Titel des höchsten weltlichen Herrschers in bestimmten Monarchien männliche Katze

Where the eye mixes Kaiser and Kater

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Kaiser
5 ch
Kater

Look-alike desk: Kaiser vs Kater

A purely visual mix-up. Kaiser ([ˈkaɪ̯zɐ]) and Kater ([ˈkaːtɐ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kaiser is recorded at frequency rank #1,636, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaɪ̯zɐ]. Kater is at rank #7,347, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaːtɐ].

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 8983, this pair ranks #1,981,951 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kaiser vs Kater

Shared letters: aekr. Private to "Kaiser": is. Private to "Kater": t.

"Kaiser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Kater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kaiserakiser · kaiesr · kaiserr · kaisre · kaisser · kasier · kiaser · kkaiser
  • Katerakter · kaetr · katerr · katter · kkater · ktaer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kaiser" for "Kater" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkaɪ̯zɐ] versus [ˈkaːtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kaiser" or "Kater"?
"Kaiser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,636 in our German list, against #7,347 for "Kater". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Kaiser" and "Kater" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kaiser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kater" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,981,951 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kaiser" and "Kater" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kater 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 #1,981,951 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