Which to use
“kostbar” and “kostbare” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,488
- “kostbar” frequency rank
- #21,671
- “kostbare” frequency rank
- 48159
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kostbar | kostbare |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas, das ideell oder real sehr wertvoll oder teuer ist | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kostbar |
Where the eye mixes kostbar and kostbare
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. kostbar runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against kostbare's 8 (CVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses kostbar with kostbare
A purely visual mix-up. kostbar ([ˈkɔstbaːɐ̯]) and kostbare ([ˈkɔstbaːʁə]) 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) - “kostbar” sits inside “kostbare”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48159, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kostbar is recorded at frequency rank #26,488, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkɔstbaːɐ̯]. kostbare is at rank #21,671, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkɔstbaːʁə].
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 48159, this pair ranks #1,258,688 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kostbar vs kostbare
Shared letters: abkorst. Private to "kostbar": -. Private to "kostbare": e.
"kostbar" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "kostbare" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kostbar" for "kostbare" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "kostbar" or "kostbare" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "kostbar" and "kostbare" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kostbar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kostbare" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,258,688 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kostbar" and "kostbare" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kostbar vs kostbaren". 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 #1,258,688 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.