stabilvssterilWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,027
“stabil” frequency rank
#35,465
“steril” frequency rank
40492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stabil steril
Definition belastungsfähig, standhaft, (von Werten) ständig, gleichbleibend ohne Krankheitskeime

Where the eye mixes stabil and steril

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
stabil
6 ch
steril

Why the eye confuses stabil with steril

A purely visual mix-up. stabil ([ʃtaˈbiːl]) and steril ([ˌʃteˈʁiːl]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stabil is recorded at frequency rank #5,027, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃtaˈbiːl]. steril is at rank #35,465, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌʃteˈʁiːl].

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 40492, this pair ranks #1,506,893 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stabil vs steril

Shared letters: ilst. Private to "stabil": ab. Private to "steril": er.

"stabil" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "steril" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stabilsatbil · sstabil · stabbil · stabill · stabli · staibl · stbail · sttabil
  • sterilsetril · ssteril · steirl · sterill · sterli · sterril · streil · stteril

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stabil" and "steril" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtaˈbiːl] versus [ˌʃteˈʁiːl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "stabil" or "steril"?
"stabil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,027 in our German list, against #35,465 for "steril". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "stabil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "steril" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,506,893 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stabil" and "steril" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steril vs storia". 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 #1,506,893 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