religiösvsreligiöseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,317
“religiös” frequency rank
#4,829
“religiöse” frequency rank
16146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature religiös religiöse
Definition die Religion betreffend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs religiös

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set religiös and religiöse apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
religiös
9 ch
religiöse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. religiös ([ʁeliˈɡi̯øːs]) and religiöse ([ʁeliˈɡi̯øːzə]) 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) - “religiös” sits inside “religiöse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

religiös is recorded at frequency rank #11,317, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʁeliˈɡi̯øːs]. religiöse is at rank #4,829, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁeliˈɡi̯øːzə].

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 16146, this pair ranks #1,938,204 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of religiös vs religiöse

Shared letters: egilrsö. Private to "religiös": -. Private to "religiöse": -.

"religiös" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "religiöse" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCV

Frequency comparison

religiös#11,317
religiöse#4,829

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "religiös" and "religiöse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʁeliˈɡi̯øːs] versus [ʁeliˈɡi̯øːzə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "religiös" or "religiöse"?
"religiöse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,829 in our German list, against #11,317 for "religiös". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering religiös vs religiöse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “religiös” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list