RobbevsrobeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#46,238
“Robbe” frequency rank
#31,244
“robe” frequency rank
77482
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Robbe robe
Definition spindelförmiges, im Wasser jagendes Raubtier Kleid, Robe

Where the eye mixes Robbe and robe

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

5 ch
Robbe
4 ch
robe

Look-alike desk: Robbe vs robe

A purely visual mix-up. Robbe ([ˈʁɔbə]) and robe ([ʁɔb]) 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 77482, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Robbe is recorded at frequency rank #46,238, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁɔbə]. robe is at rank #31,244, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁɔb].

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 77482, this pair ranks #259,685 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Robbe vs robe

Shared letters: beor. Private to "Robbe": -. Private to "robe": -.

"Robbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "robe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Robbeorbbe · rbobe · robeb · rrobbe
  • robeorbe · rboe · roeb · rrobe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Robbe" for "robe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁɔbə] versus [ʁɔb]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Robbe" vs "robe" - which ranks higher?
"robe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,244 in our German list, against #46,238 for "Robbe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Robbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "robe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #259,685 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Robbe" and "robe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Robbe vs robo". 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 #259,685 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