möglichesvsmöglichstWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mögliches is a adjective, möglichst is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mögliches” is an adjective and “möglichst” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,706
“mögliches” frequency rank
#1,303
“möglichst” frequency rank
23009
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mögliches möglichst
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs möglich so gut, so schnell, so groß und Ähnliches sich etwas einrichten/machen lässt

Where the eye mixes mögliches and möglichst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. mögliches (CVCCVCCVC) and möglichst (CVCCVCCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
mögliches
9 ch
möglichst

Visual trap between mögliches and möglichst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mögliches is [ˈmøːklɪçəs] while möglichst is [ˈmøːklɪçst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mögliches is recorded at frequency rank #21,706, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmøːklɪçəs]. möglichst is at rank #1,303, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈmøːklɪçst].

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 23009, this pair ranks #1,866,913 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mögliches vs möglichst

Shared letters: cghilmsö. Private to "mögliches": e. Private to "möglichst": t.

"mögliches" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "möglichst" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mögliches" for "möglichst" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mögliches" is an adjective and "möglichst" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mögliches" or "möglichst"?
"möglichst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,303 in our German list, against #21,706 for "mögliches". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "mögliches" and "möglichst" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mögliches" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "möglichst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,866,913 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mögliches" and "möglichst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "möglicher vs mögliches". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,866,913 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