Which to use
“Rüge” is a noun and “ruhige” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,428
- “Rüge” frequency rank
- #9,082
- “ruhige” frequency rank
- 44510
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Rüge | ruhige |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ermahnung ohne negative Konsequenzen durch eine vorgesetzte Person oder Institution | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ruhig |
Where the eye mixes Rüge and ruhige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Rüge runs 4 letters (CVCV) against ruhige's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Rüge and ruhige
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Rüge is [ˈʁyːɡə] while ruhige is [ˈʁuːɪɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44510, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Rüge is recorded at frequency rank #35,428, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁyːɡə]. ruhige is at rank #9,082, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁuːɪɡə].
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 44510, this pair ranks #1,383,893 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Rüge vs ruhige
Shared letters: egr. Private to "Rüge": ü. Private to "ruhige": hiu.
"Rüge" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "ruhige" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ruhige ← rhuige · rruhige · ruhgie · ruhhige · ruhieg · ruhigge · ruihge · urhige
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Rüge" and "ruhige" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Rüge" or "ruhige" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Rüge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ruhige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,383,893 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Rüge" and "ruhige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs Rüge". 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 #1,383,893 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.