Which to use
“liebst” is a verb and “liebster” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,237
- “liebst” frequency rank
- #21,341
- “liebster” frequency rank
- 30578
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | liebst | liebster |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lieben | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs lieb |
Where the eye mixes liebst and liebster
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. liebst runs 6 letters (CVVCCC) against liebster's 8 (CVVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between liebst and liebster
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: liebst is [liːpst] while liebster is [ˈliːpstɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “liebst” sits inside “liebster”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
liebst is recorded at frequency rank #9,237, classified as averb, pronounced [liːpst]. liebster is at rank #21,341, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈliːpstɐ].
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 30578, this pair ranks #1,745,079 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of liebst vs liebster
Shared letters: beilst. Private to "liebst": -. Private to "liebster": r.
"liebst" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC · "liebster" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "liebst" for "liebster" ever safe?
Which is more common, "liebst" or "liebster"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "liebst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "liebster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,745,079 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "liebst" and "liebster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "liebster vs liebstes". 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 #1,745,079 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.