Which to use
“Maler” and “Malerei” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,811
- “Maler” frequency rank
- #5,869
- “Malerei” frequency rank
- 10680
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Maler | Malerei |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Künstler, der Bilder malt | Werk eines Malers |
Where the eye mixes Maler and Malerei
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Maler with Malerei
A purely visual mix-up. Maler ([ˈmaːlɐ]) and Malerei ([ˌmaːləˈʁaɪ̯]) 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) - “Maler” sits inside “Malerei”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Maler is recorded at frequency rank #4,811, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaːlɐ]. Malerei is at rank #5,869, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˌmaːləˈʁaɪ̯].
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 10680, this pair ranks #1,973,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Maler vs Malerei
Shared letters: aelmr. Private to "Maler": -. Private to "Malerei": i.
"Maler" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Malerei" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Maler" for "Malerei" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Maler" vs "Malerei" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Maler" and "Malerei" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Maler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Malerei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,973,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Maler" and "Malerei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Maler vs Mauser". 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 #1,973,889 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.