KummervsKüsterTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,685
“Kummer” frequency rank
#32,142
“Küster” frequency rank
42827
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kummer Küster
Definition Sorgegefühl beziehungsweise Niedergeschlagenheit Kirchenangestellter, dessen Aufgabe in der Vorbereitung von liturgischen Feiern besteht

Where the eye mixes Kummer and Küster

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Kummer
6 ch
Küster

Look-alike desk: Kummer vs Küster

A purely visual mix-up. Kummer ([ˈkʊmɐ]) and Küster ([ˈkʏstɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42827, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kummer is recorded at frequency rank #10,685, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʊmɐ]. Küster is at rank #32,142, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʏstɐ].

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 42827, this pair ranks #1,437,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kummer vs Küster

Shared letters: ekr. Private to "Kummer": mu. Private to "Küster": stü.

"Kummer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Küster" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kummerkkummer · kmumer · kumemr · kumer · kummerr · kummre · ukmmer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Kummer" and "Küster" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʊmɐ] versus [ˈkʏstɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kummer" or "Küster"?
"Kummer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,685 in our German list, against #32,142 for "Küster". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kummer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Küster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,437,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kummer" and "Küster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Küster 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 #1,437,230 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