RautevsRügeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#32,734
“Raute” frequency rank
#35,428
“Rüge” frequency rank
68162
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Raute Rüge
Definition Viereck mit vier gleichlangen Seiten Ermahnung ohne negative Konsequenzen durch eine vorgesetzte Person oder Institution

Where the eye mixes Raute and Rüge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Raute runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against Rüge's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Raute
4 ch
Rüge

Why the eye confuses Raute with Rüge

A purely visual mix-up. Raute ([ˈʁaʊ̯tə]) and Rüge ([ˈʁyːɡə]) 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 68162, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Raute is recorded at frequency rank #32,734, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯tə]. Rüge is at rank #35,428, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁyːɡə].

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 68162, this pair ranks #516,743 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Raute vs Rüge

Shared letters: er. Private to "Raute": atu. Private to "Rüge": gü.

"Raute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Rüge" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Raute ← arute · ratue · rauet · rautte · rraute · ruate

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Raute" and "Rüge" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaʊ̯tə] versus [ˈʁyːɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Raute" vs "Rüge" - which ranks higher?
"Raute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,734 in our German list, against #35,428 for "Rüge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Raute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rüge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #516,743 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Raute" and "Rüge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs Rüge". 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 #516,743 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