politischvspolitischeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,080
“politisch” frequency rank
#890
“politische” frequency rank
2970
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature politisch politische
Definition die Politik betreffend Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs politisch

Where the eye mixes politisch and politische

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. politisch runs 9 letters (CVCVCVCCC) against politische's 10 (CVCVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
politisch
10 ch
politische

Why the eye confuses politisch with politische

A purely visual mix-up. politisch ([poˈliːtɪʃ]) and politische ([poˈliːtɪʃə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “politisch” sits inside “politische”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

politisch is recorded at frequency rank #2,080, classified as anadj, pronounced [poˈliːtɪʃ]. politische is at rank #890, tagged as anadj, pronounced [poˈliːtɪʃə].

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 2970, this pair ranks #2,001,218 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of politisch vs politische

Shared letters: chilopst. Private to "politisch": -. Private to "politische": e.

"politisch" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCC  ·  "politische" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • politisch ← oplitisch · ploitisch · poiltisch · poliitsch · politicsh · politiscch · politischh · politishc
  • politische ← oplitische · ploitische · poiltische · poliitsche · politicshe · politiscche · politisceh · politischhe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "politisch" and "politische" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([poˈliːtɪʃ] versus [poˈliːtɪʃə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "politisch" vs "politische" - which ranks higher?
"politische" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #890 in our German list, against #2,080 for "politisch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "politisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "politische" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,218 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "politisch" and "politische" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "polemisch vs politisch". 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 #2,001,218 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