Which to use
“kleinste” and “kleinster” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,554
- “kleinste” frequency rank
- #44,732
- “kleinster” frequency rank
- 51286
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kleinste | kleinster |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs klein | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs klein |
Where the eye mixes kleinste and kleinster
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: kleinste vs kleinster
A purely visual mix-up. kleinste ([ˈklaɪ̯nstə]) and kleinster ([ˈklaɪ̯nstɐ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “kleinste” sits inside “kleinster”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kleinste is recorded at frequency rank #6,554, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯nstə]. kleinster is at rank #44,732, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈklaɪ̯nstɐ].
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 51286, this pair ranks #1,141,281 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kleinste vs kleinster
Shared letters: eiklnst. Private to "kleinste": -. Private to "kleinster": r.
"kleinste" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCCV · "kleinster" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kleinste" and "kleinster" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "kleinste" or "kleinster"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kleinste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kleinster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,141,281 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kleinste" and "kleinster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kleinerer vs kleinster". 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 #1,141,281 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.