ruhigvsruhigesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,489
“ruhig” frequency rank
#22,870
“ruhiges” frequency rank
24359
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes ruhig and ruhiges

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ruhig
7 ch
ruhiges

Why the eye confuses ruhig with ruhiges

A purely visual mix-up. ruhig ([ˈʁuːɪç]) and ruhiges ([ˈʁuːɪɡəs]) 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 “ruhiges”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24359, 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]. ruhiges is at rank #22,870, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʁuːɪɡəs].

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 24359, this pair ranks #1,848,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ruhig vs ruhiges

Shared letters: ghiru. Private to "ruhig": -. Private to "ruhiges": es.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ruhigrhuig · rruhig · ruhgi · ruhhig · ruhigg · ruihg · urhig
  • ruhigesrhuiges · rruhiges · ruhgies · ruhhiges · ruhiegs · ruhigess · ruhigges · ruhigse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ruhig" and "ruhiges" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁuːɪç] versus [ˈʁuːɪɡəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ruhig" or "ruhiges"?
"ruhig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,489 in our German list, against #22,870 for "ruhiges". 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 "ruhig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ruhiges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,848,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ruhig" and "ruhiges" 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 #1,848,755 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