Which to use
“peinlich” and “peinlicher” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,611
- “peinlich” frequency rank
- #30,232
- “peinlicher” frequency rank
- 33843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | peinlich | peinlicher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | beschämend, unangenehm | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs peinlich |
Where the eye mixes peinlich and peinlicher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. peinlich runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCC) against peinlicher's 10 (CVVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses peinlich with peinlicher
A purely visual mix-up. peinlich ([ˈpaɪ̯nˌlɪç]) and peinlicher ([ˈpaɪ̯nˌlɪçɐ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “peinlich” sits inside “peinlicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
peinlich is recorded at frequency rank #3,611, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpaɪ̯nˌlɪç]. peinlicher is at rank #30,232, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpaɪ̯nˌlɪçɐ].
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 33843, this pair ranks #1,676,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of peinlich vs peinlicher
Shared letters: cehilnp. Private to "peinlich": -. Private to "peinlicher": r.
"peinlich" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC · "peinlicher" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- peinlich ← epinlich · peilnich · peinilch · peinlcih · peinlicch · peinlichh · peinlihc · peinllich
- peinlicher ← epinlicher · peilnicher · peinilcher · peinlciher · peinliccher · peinlicehr · peinlicherr · peinlichher
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "peinlich" and "peinlicher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "peinlich" vs "peinlicher" - which ranks higher?
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 "peinlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "peinlicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,676,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "peinlich" and "peinlicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peinlicher vs peinliches". 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 #1,676,834 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.