Which to use
“ruhig” is an adjective and “Ruhm” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,489
- “ruhig” frequency rank
- #7,984
- “Ruhm” frequency rank
- 9473
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ruhig | Ruhm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von der Arbeit rastend und damit frei von jeder Mühe und Beschäftigung | hohe Bekanntheit und Anerkennung wegen einer positiven Leistung |
Where the eye mixes ruhig and Ruhm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ruhig and Ruhm
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ruhig is [ˈʁuːɪç] while Ruhm is [ʁuːm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9473, 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]. Ruhm is at rank #7,984, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁuːm].
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 9473, this pair ranks #1,979,790 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ruhig vs Ruhm
Shared letters: hru. Private to "ruhig": gi. Private to "Ruhm": m.
"ruhig" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Ruhm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ruhig" for "Ruhm" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ruhig" or "Ruhm" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ruhig" and "Ruhm" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ruhig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Ruhm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,979,790 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ruhig" and "Ruhm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ruhm vs rühmen". 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 #1,979,790 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.