Which to use
“seltsam” and “seltsamer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,994
- “seltsam” frequency rank
- #22,889
- “seltsamer” frequency rank
- 26883
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seltsam | seltsamer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht normal; merkwürdig, sonderbar | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs seltsam |
Where the eye mixes seltsam and seltsamer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. seltsam runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against seltsamer's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: seltsam vs seltsamer
A purely visual mix-up. seltsam ([ˈzɛltzaːm]) and seltsamer ([ˈzɛltzaːmɐ]) 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) - “seltsam” sits inside “seltsamer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seltsam is recorded at frequency rank #3,994, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltzaːm]. seltsamer is at rank #22,889, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzɛltzaːmɐ].
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 26883, this pair ranks #1,810,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seltsam vs seltsamer
Shared letters: aelmst. Private to "seltsam": -. Private to "seltsamer": r.
"seltsam" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "seltsamer" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "seltsam" and "seltsamer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "seltsam" or "seltsamer"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "seltsam" and "seltsamer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "seltsam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "seltsamer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,810,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seltsam" and "seltsamer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seltsam vs Sesam". 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 #1,810,851 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.