MutesvsMützenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#46,166
“Mutes” frequency rank
#24,050
“Mützen” frequency rank
70216
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mutes Mützen
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Mut Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Mütze

Where the eye mixes Mutes and Mützen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Mutes runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Mützen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Mutes
6 ch
Mützen

Why the eye confuses Mutes with Mützen

A purely visual mix-up. Mutes ([ˈmuːtəs]) and Mützen ([ˈmʏt͡sn̩]) 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 70216, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mutes is recorded at frequency rank #46,166, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmuːtəs]. Mützen is at rank #24,050, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmʏt͡sn̩].

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 70216, this pair ranks #453,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Mutes vs Mützen

Shared letters: emt. Private to "Mutes": su. Private to "Mützen": nzü.

"Mutes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Mützen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mutes ← mmutes · mtues · muets · mutess · mutse · muttes · umtes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Mutes" for "Mützen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmuːtəs] versus [ˈmʏt͡sn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Mutes" vs "Mützen" - which ranks higher?
"Mützen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,050 in our German list, against #46,166 for "Mutes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mutes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mützen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #453,018 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mutes" and "Mützen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "museo vs Mutes". 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 #453,018 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