rotvsRusConfusable pair

Quick tell: rot is a adjective, Rus is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“rot” is an adjective and “Rus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,020
“rot” frequency rank
#30,267
“Rus” frequency rank
31287
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rot Rus
Definition eine bunte Farbe, im Spektrum die langwelligste Farbe; eine der drei Grundfarben des digitalen RGB-Farbraums Gebiet der ostslawischen Staats- und Gemeinwesen vom 9. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert

Where the eye mixes rot and Rus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
rot
3 ch
Rus

Look-alike desk: rot vs Rus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rot is [ʁoːt] while Rus is [ʁʊs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rot is recorded at frequency rank #1,020, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʁoːt]. Rus is at rank #30,267, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁʊs].

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 31287, this pair ranks #1,731,176 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of rot vs Rus

Shared letters: r. Private to "rot": ot. Private to "Rus": su.

"rot" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Rus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rot" and "Rus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rot" is an adjective and "Rus" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "rot" vs "Rus" - which ranks higher?
"rot" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,020 in our German list, against #30,267 for "Rus". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "rot" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,731,176 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rot" and "Rus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs Rus". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,731,176 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