kompliziertvskompliziertenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,716
“kompliziert” frequency rank
#16,755
“komplizierten” frequency rank
21471
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kompliziert komplizierten
Definition umständlich, undurchschaubar, schwierig, verzwickt, verstrickt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs kompliziert

Where the eye mixes kompliziert and komplizierten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. kompliziert runs 11 letters (CVCCCVCVVCC) against komplizierten's 13 (CVCCCVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
kompliziert
13 ch
komplizierten

Why the eye confuses kompliziert with komplizierten

A purely visual mix-up. kompliziert ([kɔmpliˈt͡siːɐ̯t]) and komplizierten ([kɔmpliˈt͡siːɐ̯tn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “kompliziert” sits inside “komplizierten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21471, 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]. komplizierten is at rank #16,755, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kɔmpliˈt͡siːɐ̯tn̩].

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 21471, this pair ranks #1,885,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kompliziert vs komplizierten

Shared letters: eiklmoprtz. Private to "kompliziert": -. Private to "komplizierten": n.

"kompliziert" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVVCC  ·  "komplizierten" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kompliziertkkompliziert · kmopliziert · komlpiziert · kommpliziert · kompilziert · kompliizert · komplizeirt · komplizierrt
  • kompliziertenkkomplizierten · kmoplizierten · komlpizierten · kommplizierten · kompilzierten · kompliizerten · komplizeirten · komplizieretn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kompliziert" and "komplizierten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kɔmpliˈt͡siːɐ̯t] versus [kɔmpliˈt͡siːɐ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "kompliziert" or "komplizierten" show up more?
"kompliziert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,716 in our German list, against #16,755 for "komplizierten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kompliziert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "komplizierten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,885,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kompliziert" and "komplizierten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "komplizierten 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 #1,885,886 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