ruhigvsruhigerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,489
“ruhig” frequency rank
#7,658
“ruhiger” frequency rank
9147
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ruhig ruhiger
Definition von der Arbeit rastend und damit frei von jeder Mühe und Beschäftigung Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ruhig

Where the eye mixes ruhig and ruhiger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ruhig runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against ruhiger's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
ruhig
7 ch
ruhiger

Visual trap between ruhig and ruhiger

A purely visual mix-up. ruhig ([ˈʁuːɪç]) and ruhiger ([ˈʁuːɪɡɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “ruhig” sits inside “ruhiger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ruhig is recorded at frequency rank #1,489, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁuːɪç]. ruhiger is at rank #7,658, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁuːɪɡɐ].

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 9147, this pair ranks #1,981,279 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ruhig vs ruhiger

Shared letters: ghiru. Private to "ruhig": -. Private to "ruhiger": e.

"ruhig" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "ruhiger" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ruhig ← rhuig · rruhig · ruhgi · ruhhig · ruhigg · ruihg · urhig
  • ruhiger ← rhuiger · rruhiger · ruhgier · ruhhiger · ruhiegr · ruhigerr · ruhigger · ruhigre

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ruhig" and "ruhiger" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁuːɪç] versus [ˈʁuːɪɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ruhig" vs "ruhiger" - which ranks higher?
"ruhig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,489 in our German list, against #7,658 for "ruhiger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ruhig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ruhiger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,981,279 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ruhig" and "ruhiger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ruhig vs ruhte". 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 #1,981,279 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