LudwigvslustigWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Ludwig is a name, lustig is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ludwig” is a name and “lustig” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,308
“Ludwig” frequency rank
#1,235
“lustig” frequency rank
3543
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ludwig lustig
Definition männlicher Vorname Komik, Witz besitzend; amüsant

Where the eye mixes Ludwig and lustig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Ludwig
6 ch
lustig

Look-alike desk: Ludwig vs lustig

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ludwig is [ˈluːtvɪç] while lustig is [ˈlʊstɪç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ludwig is recorded at frequency rank #2,308, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈluːtvɪç]. lustig is at rank #1,235, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlʊstɪç].

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 3543, this pair ranks #1,999,975 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ludwig vs lustig

Shared letters: gilu. Private to "Ludwig": dw. Private to "lustig": st.

"Ludwig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lustig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ludwiglduwig · lludwig · luddwig · ludiwg · ludwgi · ludwigg · ludwwig · luwdig
  • lustigllustig · lsutig · lusitg · lusstig · lustgi · lustigg · lusttig · lutsig

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ludwig" for "lustig" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ludwig" is a name and "lustig" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Ludwig" vs "lustig" - which ranks higher?
"lustig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,235 in our German list, against #2,308 for "Ludwig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ludwig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lustig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,999,975 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ludwig" and "lustig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ledig vs Ludwig". 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 #1,999,975 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