RappenvsRaupeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#26,140
“Rappen” frequency rank
#24,084
“Raupe” frequency rank
50224
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Rappen Raupe
Definition als Rappenpfennig Hauptmünze im Oberrhein-Gebiet, der heutigen Nordschweiz und dem Elsass ab dem 13. Jahrhundert wurmförmige Larve des Schmetterlings oder der Blattwespe mit beißenden Mundteilen, kurzen bekrallten Brustfüßen und stummelförmigen Afterfüßen

Where the eye mixes Rappen and Raupe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Rappen
5 ch
Raupe

Visual trap between Rappen and Raupe

A purely visual mix-up. Rappen ([ˈʁapn̩]) and Raupe ([ˈʁaʊ̯pə]) 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 50224, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rappen is recorded at frequency rank #26,140, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁapn̩]. Raupe is at rank #24,084, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯pə].

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 50224, this pair ranks #1,181,820 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Rappen vs Raupe

Shared letters: aepr. Private to "Rappen": n. Private to "Raupe": u.

"Rappen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Raupe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rappenarppen · rapen · rapepn · rappenn · rappne · rpapen · rrappen
  • Raupearupe · rapue · rauep · rauppe · rraupe · ruape

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Rappen" and "Raupe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁapn̩] versus [ˈʁaʊ̯pə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Rappen" or "Raupe" show up more?
"Raupe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,084 in our German list, against #26,140 for "Rappen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Rappen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Raupe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,181,820 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Rappen" and "Raupe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rappen vs raunen". 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 #1,181,820 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