Which to use
“meist” and “meiste” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #620
- “meist” frequency rank
- #6,087
- “meiste” frequency rank
- 6707
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | meist | meiste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Superlativ zu viel | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs meist |
Where the eye mixes meist and meiste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. meist runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against meiste's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses meist with meiste
A purely visual mix-up. meist ([maɪ̯st]) and meiste ([ˈmaɪ̯stə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “meist” sits inside “meiste”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6707, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
meist is recorded at frequency rank #620, classified as anadj, pronounced [maɪ̯st]. meiste is at rank #6,087, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯stə].
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 6707, this pair ranks #1,990,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of meist vs meiste
Shared letters: eimst. Private to "meist": -. Private to "meiste": -.
"meist" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "meiste" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "meist" for "meiste" ever safe?
Frequency check: "meist" vs "meiste" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "meist" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "meiste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,990,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "meist" and "meiste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "meiste vs Mette". 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 #1,990,708 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.