Which to use
“moe” is an adjective and “Motte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,005
- “moe” frequency rank
- #32,677
- “Motte” frequency rank
- 74682
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | moe | Motte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | müde | Kleinschmetterling mit etwa 1 cm spannenden schmalen Flügeln, dessen Raupe unter anderem Wolle, Seide, Pelzwerk und Tapeten befällt |
Where the eye mixes moe and Motte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. moe runs 3 letters (CVV) against Motte's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses moe with Motte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: moe is [muː] while Motte is [ˈmɔtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
moe is recorded at frequency rank #42,005, classified as anadj, pronounced [muː]. Motte is at rank #32,677, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɔtə].
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 74682, this pair ranks #327,060 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of moe vs Motte
Shared letters: emo. Private to "moe": -. Private to "Motte": t.
"moe" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "Motte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Motte ← mmotte · mote · motet · mtote · omtte
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "moe" for "Motte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "moe" or "Motte" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "moe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Motte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #327,060 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "moe" and "Motte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moe vs mora". 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 #327,060 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.