meldenvsmildernConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,816
“melden” frequency rank
#40,702
“mildern” frequency rank
42518
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature melden mildern
Definition ein Ereignis (beispielsweise einem Vorgesetzten oder einer offiziellen Stelle) berichten etwas in dessen (negativer) Wirkung abschwächen

Where the eye mixes melden and mildern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. melden runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against mildern's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
melden
7 ch
mildern

Why the eye confuses melden with mildern

A purely visual mix-up. melden ([ˈmɛldn̩]) and mildern ([ˈmɪldɐn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

melden is recorded at frequency rank #1,816, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛldn̩]. mildern is at rank #40,702, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɪldɐn].

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 42518, this pair ranks #1,446,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of melden vs mildern

Shared letters: delmn. Private to "melden": -. Private to "mildern": ir.

"melden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "mildern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • melden ← emlden · medlen · meldden · meldenn · meldne · meledn · mellden · mleden
  • mildern ← imldern · midlern · milddern · mildenr · mildernn · milderrn · mildren · miledrn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "melden" for "mildern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɛldn̩] versus [ˈmɪldɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "melden" or "mildern"?
"melden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,816 in our German list, against #40,702 for "mildern". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "melden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mildern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,446,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "melden" and "mildern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Milben vs mildern". 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 #1,446,840 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