Which to use
“steife” and “steil” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,248
- “steife” frequency rank
- #9,636
- “steil” frequency rank
- 53884
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | steife | steil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steif | von der Waagerechten stark abweichend, entweder ansteigend oder abfallend (auch figurativ) |
Where the eye mixes steife and steil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: steife vs steil
A purely visual mix-up. steife ([ˈʃtaɪ̯fə]) and steil ([ʃtaɪ̯l]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53884, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
steife is recorded at frequency rank #44,248, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯fə]. steil is at rank #9,636, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃtaɪ̯l].
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 53884, this pair ranks #1,040,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of steife vs steil
Shared letters: eist. Private to "steife": f. Private to "steil": l.
"steife" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "steil" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "steife" for "steil" ever safe?
Which is more common, "steife" or "steil"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "steife" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "steil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,040,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "steife" and "steil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steife vs Stele". 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 #1,040,591 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.