NussvsNüssenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,905
“Nuss” frequency rank
#37,707
“Nüssen” frequency rank
51612
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Nuss Nüssen
Definition essbarer, ölhaltiger Same mit harter Schale Dativ Plural des Substantivs Nuss

Where the eye mixes Nuss and Nüssen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Nuss runs 4 letters (CVCC) against Nüssen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Nuss
6 ch
Nüssen

Visual trap between Nuss and Nüssen

A purely visual mix-up. Nuss ([nʊs]) and Nüssen ([ˈnʏsn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51612, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Nuss is recorded at frequency rank #13,905, classified as anoun, pronounced [nʊs]. Nüssen is at rank #37,707, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnʏsn̩].

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 51612, this pair ranks #1,128,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Nuss vs Nüssen

Shared letters: ns. Private to "Nuss": u. Private to "Nüssen": eü.

"Nuss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Nüssen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Nuss ← nnuss · nsus · nus · nuß · unss

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Nuss" for "Nüssen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([nʊs] versus [ˈnʏsn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Nuss" or "Nüssen"?
"Nuss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,905 in our German list, against #37,707 for "Nüssen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Nuss" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nüssen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,128,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Nuss" and "Nüssen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nasses vs Nüssen". 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 #1,128,846 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