rolevsrueConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#35,998
“role” frequency rank
#16,534
“rue” frequency rank
52532
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature role rue
Definition die Rolle Reue

Letter map: role vs rue

Shared letters muted; letters that set role and rue apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
role
3 ch
rue

Pair insight - role / rue

role and rue are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52532, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

role is recorded at frequency rank #35,998, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. rue is at rank #16,534, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ruː].

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 52532, this pair ranks #1,093,093 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of role vs rue

Shared letters: er. Private to "role": lo. Private to "rue": u.

"role" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "rue" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • roleorle · rloe · roel · rrole

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "role" for "rue" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "role" vs "rue" - which ranks higher?
"rue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,534 in our German list, against #35,998 for "role". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "role" and "rue".

  • Full dictionary entry for "role" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,093,093 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "role" and "rue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs role". 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 #1,093,093 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