leichtervsLeuchterWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: leichter is a adjective, Leuchter is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leichter” is an adjective and “Leuchter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,853
“leichter” frequency rank
#38,876
“Leuchter” frequency rank
40729
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leichter Leuchter
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs leicht Gestell/Halter für Kerzen oder Glühbirnen

Where the eye mixes leichter and Leuchter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. leichter and Leuchter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
leichter
8 ch
Leuchter

Why the eye confuses leichter with Leuchter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leichter is [ˈlaɪ̯çtɐ] while Leuchter is [ˈlɔɪ̯çtɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “leichter” becomes u in “Leuchter”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leichter is recorded at frequency rank #1,853, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯çtɐ]. Leuchter is at rank #38,876, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯çtɐ].

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 40729, this pair ranks #1,500,058 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leichter vs Leuchter

Shared letters: cehlrt. Private to "leichter": i. Private to "Leuchter": u.

"leichter" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC  ·  "Leuchter" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leichter ← elichter · lecihter · leicchter · leichetr · leichhter · leichterr · leichtre · leichtter
  • Leuchter ← eluchter · lecuhter · leucchter · leuchetr · leuchhter · leuchterr · leuchtre · leuchtter

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leichter" and "Leuchter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leichter" is an adjective and "Leuchter" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "leichter" vs "Leuchter" - which ranks higher?
"leichter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,853 in our German list, against #38,876 for "Leuchter". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "leichter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leuchter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,500,058 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leichter" and "Leuchter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leuchter vs leuchtete". 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 #1,500,058 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