steilevsstetigeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,421
“steile” frequency rank
#24,940
“stetige” frequency rank
39361
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature steile stetige
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steil Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stetig

Where the eye mixes steile and stetige

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. steile 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.

6 ch
steile
7 ch
stetige

Why the eye confuses steile with stetige

A purely visual mix-up. steile ([ˈʃtaɪ̯lə]) 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 39361, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

steile is recorded at frequency rank #14,421, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯lə]. 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 39361, this pair ranks #1,538,896 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of steile vs stetige

Shared letters: eist. Private to "steile": l. Private to "stetige": g.

"steile" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "stetige" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • steile ← setile · ssteile · steiel · steille · stelie · stiele · stteile · tseile
  • stetige ← settige · sstetige · steitge · stetgie · stetieg · stetigge · stettige · sttetige

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "steile" and "stetige" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaɪ̯lə] versus [ˈʃteːtɪɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "steile" vs "stetige" - which ranks higher?
"steile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,421 in our German list, against #24,940 for "stetige". 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 "steile" and "stetige" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "steile" 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 #1,538,896 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "steile" and "stetige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steife vs stetige". 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 #1,538,896 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