kompliziertvskomplizierteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,716
“kompliziert” frequency rank
#13,185
“komplizierte” frequency rank
17901
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kompliziert komplizierte
Definition umständlich, undurchschaubar, schwierig, verzwickt, verstrickt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kompliziert

Where the eye mixes kompliziert and komplizierte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. kompliziert runs 11 letters (CVCCCVCVVCC) against komplizierte's 12 (CVCCCVCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
kompliziert
12 ch
komplizierte

Look-alike desk: kompliziert vs komplizierte

A purely visual mix-up. kompliziert ([kɔmpliˈt͡siːɐ̯t]) and komplizierte ([kɔmpliˈt͡siːɐ̯tə]) 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) - “kompliziert” sits inside “komplizierte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kompliziert is recorded at frequency rank #4,716, classified as anadj, pronounced [kɔmpliˈt͡siːɐ̯t]. komplizierte is at rank #13,185, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kɔmpliˈt͡siːɐ̯tə].

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 17901, this pair ranks #1,923,224 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kompliziert vs komplizierte

Shared letters: eiklmoprtz. Private to "kompliziert": -. Private to "komplizierte": -.

"kompliziert" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVVCC  ·  "komplizierte" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kompliziertkkompliziert · kmopliziert · komlpiziert · kommpliziert · kompilziert · kompliizert · komplizeirt · komplizierrt
  • kompliziertekkomplizierte · kmoplizierte · komlpizierte · kommplizierte · kompilzierte · kompliizerte · komplizeirte · komplizieret

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kompliziert" and "komplizierte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kɔmpliˈt͡siːɐ̯t] versus [kɔmpliˈt͡siːɐ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kompliziert" vs "komplizierte" - which ranks higher?
"kompliziert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,716 in our German list, against #13,185 for "komplizierte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kompliziert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "komplizierte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,923,224 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kompliziert" and "komplizierte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "komplizierte vs kompliziertes". 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 #1,923,224 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