steilervsstillerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,383
“steiler” frequency rank
#14,942
“stiller” frequency rank
49325
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature steiler stiller
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs steil Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs still

Where the eye mixes steiler and stiller

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

7 ch
steiler
7 ch
stiller

Look-alike desk: steiler vs stiller

A purely visual mix-up. steiler ([ˈʃtaɪ̯lɐ]) and stiller ([ˈʃtɪlɐ]) 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 49325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

steiler is recorded at frequency rank #34,383, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯lɐ]. stiller is at rank #14,942, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtɪlɐ].

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 49325, this pair ranks #1,215,732 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of steiler vs stiller

Shared letters: eilrst. Private to "steiler": -. Private to "stiller": -.

"steiler" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "stiller" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • steilersetiler · ssteiler · steielr · steilerr · steiller · steilre · stelier · stieler
  • stillersitller · sstiller · stilelr · stiler · stillerr · stillre · stliler · sttiller

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "steiler" for "stiller" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaɪ̯lɐ] versus [ˈʃtɪlɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "steiler" or "stiller"?
"stiller" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,942 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.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "steiler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stiller" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,215,732 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "steiler" and "stiller" 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 #1,215,732 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