moderatevsmodernsteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,835
“moderate” frequency rank
#28,767
“modernste” frequency rank
53602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature moderate modernste
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs moderat Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs modern

Where the eye mixes moderate and modernste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
moderate
9 ch
modernste

Why the eye confuses moderate with modernste

A purely visual mix-up. moderate ([modeˈʁaːtə]) and modernste ([moˈdɛʁnstə]) 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 53602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

moderate is recorded at frequency rank #24,835, classified as anadj, pronounced [modeˈʁaːtə]. modernste is at rank #28,767, tagged as anadj, pronounced [moˈdɛʁnstə].

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 53602, this pair ranks #1,051,567 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of moderate vs modernste

Shared letters: demort. Private to "moderate": a. Private to "modernste": ns.

"moderate" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "modernste" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • moderatemdoerate · mmoderate · modderate · modearte · moderaet · moderatte · moderrate · modertae
  • modernstemdoernste · mmodernste · moddernste · modenrste · modernnste · modernset · modernsste · modernstte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "moderate" and "modernste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([modeˈʁaːtə] versus [moˈdɛʁnstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "moderate" or "modernste" show up more?
"moderate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,835 in our German list, against #28,767 for "modernste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "moderate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modernste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,051,567 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "moderate" and "modernste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modernere vs modernste". 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 #1,051,567 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