Which to use
“steife” and “stetige” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,248
- “steife” frequency rank
- #24,940
- “stetige” frequency rank
- 69188
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | steife | stetige |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steif | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stetig |
Where the eye mixes steife and stetige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. steife runs 6 letters (CCVVCV) against stetige's 7 (CCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: steife vs stetige
A purely visual mix-up. steife ([ˈʃtaɪ̯fə]) and stetige ([ˈʃteːtɪɡə]) 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 69188, 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]. stetige is at rank #24,940, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃteːtɪɡə].
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 69188, this pair ranks #484,292 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of steife vs stetige
Shared letters: eist. Private to "steife": f. Private to "stetige": g.
"steife" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "stetige" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "steife" and "stetige" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "steife" or "stetige" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "stetige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #484,292 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "steife" and "stetige" 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 #484,292 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.