seriösvsseriöseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,790
“seriös” frequency rank
#15,477
“seriöse” frequency rank
28267
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seriös seriöse
Definition ordentlich Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs seriös

Where the eye mixes seriös and seriöse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. seriös runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against seriöse's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
seriös
7 ch
seriöse

Look-alike desk: seriös vs seriöse

A purely visual mix-up. seriös ([zeˈʁi̯øːs]) and seriöse ([zeˈʁi̯øːzə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “seriös” sits inside “seriöse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seriös is recorded at frequency rank #12,790, classified as anadj, pronounced [zeˈʁi̯øːs]. seriöse is at rank #15,477, tagged as anadj, pronounced [zeˈʁi̯øːzə].

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 28267, this pair ranks #1,787,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of seriös vs seriöse

Shared letters: eirsö. Private to "seriös": -. Private to "seriöse": -.

"seriös" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "seriöse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seriös" and "seriöse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([zeˈʁi̯øːs] versus [zeˈʁi̯øːzə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "seriös" or "seriöse" show up more?
"seriös" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,790 in our German list, against #15,477 for "seriöse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "seriös" and "seriöse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "seriös" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "seriöse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,787,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "seriös" and "seriöse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seriöse vs serious". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,787,772 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