SteigervssteilerWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Steiger is a noun, steiler is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Steiger” is a noun and “steiler” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,280
“Steiger” frequency rank
#34,383
“steiler” frequency rank
65663
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Steiger steiler
Definition eine Aufsichtsperson im Bergbau Nominativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs steil

Where the eye mixes Steiger and steiler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Steiger
7 ch
steiler

Look-alike desk: Steiger vs steiler

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Steiger is [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐ] while steiler is [ˈʃtaɪ̯lɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “Steiger” becomes l in “steiler”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65663, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Steiger is recorded at frequency rank #31,280, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐ]. steiler is at rank #34,383, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯lɐ].

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 65663, this pair ranks #599,198 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Steiger vs steiler

Shared letters: eirst. Private to "Steiger": g. Private to "steiler": l.

"Steiger" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "steiler" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Steigersetiger · ssteiger · stegier · steiegr · steigerr · steigger · steigre · stieger
  • steilersetiler · ssteiler · steielr · steilerr · steiller · steilre · stelier · stieler

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Steiger" for "steiler" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Steiger" is a noun and "steiler" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Steiger" vs "steiler" - which ranks higher?
"Steiger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,280 in our German list, against #34,383 for "steiler". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Steiger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "steiler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #599,198 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Steiger" and "steiler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steiler vs Stilen". 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 #599,198 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