roh vs rot, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#17,114
“roh” frequency rank: #1,020
“rot” frequency rank: 18134
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	roh	rot
Definition	nicht gekocht	eine bunte Farbe, im Spektrum die langwelligste Farbe; eine der drei Grundfarben des digitalen RGB-Farbraums

Where the eye mixes roh and rot

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch

roh

3 ch

rot

Look-alike desk: roh vs rot

A purely visual mix-up. roh ([ʁoː]) and rot ([ʁoːt]) 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 a single letter - h in “roh” becomes t in “rot”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

roh is recorded at frequency rank #17,114, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʁoː]. rot is at rank #1,020, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʁoːt].

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 18134, this pair ranks #1,921,074 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of roh vs rot

Shared letters: or. Private to "roh": h. Private to "rot": t.

"roh" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "rot" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "roh" and "rot" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([ʁoː] versus [ʁoːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

In ordinary German text, does "roh" or "rot" show up more?

"rot" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,020 in our German list, against #17,114 for "roh". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "roh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "rot" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,921,074 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"roh" and "rot" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "roh vs RUB". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,921,074 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.