Which to use
“Stele” is a noun and “steter” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,226
- “Stele” frequency rank
- #47,025
- “steter” frequency rank
- 87251
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Stele | steter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Grabstein, Gedenkstein der Antike, Pfeiler mit einer Inschrift- oder Bildtafel; heute auch moderne freistehende Informationstafel | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stet |
Where the eye mixes Stele and steter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Stele with steter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stele is [ˈʃteːlə] while steter is [ˈʃteːtɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87251, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Stele is recorded at frequency rank #40,226, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃteːlə]. steter is at rank #47,025, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃteːtɐ].
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 87251, this pair ranks #82,812 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Stele vs steter
Shared letters: est. Private to "Stele": l. Private to "steter": r.
"Stele" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "steter" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Stele" for "steter" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Stele" or "steter" 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 "Stele" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "steter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #82,812 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Stele" and "steter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steter vs Stuten". 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 #82,812 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.