Which to use
“längst” is an adverb and “längste” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,520
- “längst” frequency rank
- #11,926
- “längste” frequency rank
- 13446
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | längst | längste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schon lange, seit langem, seit langer/längerer Zeit | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs lang |
Where the eye mixes längst and längste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. längst runs 6 letters (CVCCCC) against längste's 7 (CVCCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between längst and längste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: längst is [lɛŋst] while längste is [ˈlɛŋstə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “längst” sits inside “längste”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13446, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
längst is recorded at frequency rank #1,520, classified as anadv, pronounced [lɛŋst]. längste is at rank #11,926, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛŋstə].
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 13446, this pair ranks #1,957,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of längst vs längste
Shared letters: glnstä. Private to "längst": -. Private to "längste": e.
"längst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC · "längste" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "längst" and "längste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "längst" vs "längste" - which ranks higher?
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 "längst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "längste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,957,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "längst" and "längste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "längste vs längstens". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,957,945 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.