Which to use
“schwierige” and “schwierigste” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,352
- “schwierige” frequency rank
- #25,304
- “schwierigste” frequency rank
- 31656
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schwierige | schwierigste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schwierig | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs schwierig |
Where the eye mixes schwierige and schwierigste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. schwierige runs 10 letters (CCCCVVCVCV) against schwierigste's 12 (CCCCVVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses schwierige with schwierigste
A purely visual mix-up. schwierige ([ˈʃviːʁɪɡə]) and schwierigste ([ˈʃviːʁɪçstə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31656, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schwierige is recorded at frequency rank #6,352, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃviːʁɪɡə]. schwierigste is at rank #25,304, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃviːʁɪçstə].
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 31656, this pair ranks #1,723,757 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of schwierige vs schwierigste
Shared letters: ceghirsw. Private to "schwierige": -. Private to "schwierigste": t.
"schwierige" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVVCVCV · "schwierigste" · 12 letters · shape CCCCVVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- schwierige ← cshwierige · scchwierige · schhwierige · schiwerige · schweirige · schwieirge · schwiergie · schwierieg
- schwierigste ← cshwierigste · scchwierigste · schhwierigste · schiwerigste · schweirigste · schwieirgste · schwiergiste · schwieriggste
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "schwierige" and "schwierigste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "schwierige" or "schwierigste" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "schwierige" and "schwierigste" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "schwierige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schwierigste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,723,757 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schwierige" and "schwierigste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schwierigste vs schwierigsten". 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 #1,723,757 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.