leidenschaftlichvsleidenschaftlicherWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,752
“leidenschaftlich” frequency rank
#24,817
“leidenschaftlicher” frequency rank
37569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leidenschaftlich leidenschaftlicher
Definition Leidenschaft, Begeisterung für irgendetwas besitzend Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs leidenschaftlich

Where the eye mixes leidenschaftlich and leidenschaftlicher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 16 letters in sequence. leidenschaftlich runs 16 letters (CVVCVCCCCVCCCVCC) against leidenschaftlicher's 18 (CVVCVCCCCVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

16 ch
leidenschaftlich
18 ch
leidenschaftlicher

Visual trap between leidenschaftlich and leidenschaftlicher

A purely visual mix-up. leidenschaftlich ([ˈlaɪ̯dn̩ʃaftlɪç]) and leidenschaftlicher ([ˈlaɪ̯dn̩ʃaftlɪçɐ]) 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) - “leidenschaftlich” sits inside “leidenschaftlicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leidenschaftlich is recorded at frequency rank #12,752, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯dn̩ʃaftlɪç]. leidenschaftlicher is at rank #24,817, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯dn̩ʃaftlɪçɐ].

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 37569, this pair ranks #1,586,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leidenschaftlich vs leidenschaftlicher

Shared letters: acdefhilnst. Private to "leidenschaftlich": -. Private to "leidenschaftlicher": r.

"leidenschaftlich" · 16 letters · shape CVVCVCCCCVCCCVCC  ·  "leidenschaftlicher" · 18 letters · shape CVVCVCCCCVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leidenschaftlich ← elidenschaftlich · ledienschaftlich · leiddenschaftlich · leidencshaftlich · leidennschaftlich · leidenscahftlich · leidenscchaftlich · leidenschafftlich
  • leidenschaftlicher ← elidenschaftlicher · ledienschaftlicher · leiddenschaftlicher · leidencshaftlicher · leidennschaftlicher · leidenscahftlicher · leidenscchaftlicher · leidenschafftlicher

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "leidenschaftlich" and "leidenschaftlicher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaɪ̯dn̩ʃaftlɪç] versus [ˈlaɪ̯dn̩ʃaftlɪçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "leidenschaftlich" or "leidenschaftlicher" show up more?
"leidenschaftlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,752 in our German list, against #24,817 for "leidenschaftlicher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "leidenschaftlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leidenschaftlicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,586,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leidenschaftlich" and "leidenschaftlicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leidenschaftlichen vs leidenschaftlicher". 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 #1,586,760 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