Which to use
“radikal” and “radikaler” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,074
- “radikal” frequency rank
- #21,032
- “radikaler” frequency rank
- 30106
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | radikal | radikaler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | im Denken und oder Handeln in besonderem Maße von der Norm abweichend | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs radikal |
Where the eye mixes radikal and radikaler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. radikal runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against radikaler's 9 (CVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses radikal with radikaler
A purely visual mix-up. radikal ([ʁadiˈkaːl]) and radikaler ([ʁadiˈkaːlɐ]) 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) - “radikal” sits inside “radikaler”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
radikal is recorded at frequency rank #9,074, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʁadiˈkaːl]. radikaler is at rank #21,032, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁadiˈkaːlɐ].
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 30106, this pair ranks #1,754,314 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of radikal vs radikaler
Shared letters: adiklr. Private to "radikal": -. Private to "radikaler": e.
"radikal" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "radikaler" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "radikal" and "radikaler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "radikal" or "radikaler" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "radikal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "radikaler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,754,314 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "radikal" and "radikaler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "radial vs radikal". 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 #1,754,314 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.