Which to use
“stumm” and “stumpf” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,598
- “stumm” frequency rank
- #11,537
- “stumpf” frequency rank
- 24135
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stumm | stumpf |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | keine Laute von sich geben könnend | nicht scharf (bei Schneidegeräten), sodass es nicht mehr möglich ist zu schneiden |
Where the eye mixes stumm and stumpf
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: stumm vs stumpf
A purely visual mix-up. stumm ([ʃtʊm]) and stumpf ([ʃtʊmp͡f]) 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 24135, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stumm is recorded at frequency rank #12,598, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃtʊm]. stumpf is at rank #11,537, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃtʊmp͡f].
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 24135, this pair ranks #1,851,894 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stumm vs stumpf
Shared letters: mstu. Private to "stumm": -. Private to "stumpf": fp.
"stumm" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "stumpf" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stumm" and "stumpf" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "stumm" or "stumpf" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "stumm" and "stumpf" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "stumm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stumpf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,851,894 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stumm" and "stumpf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stemmt vs stumm". 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 #1,851,894 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.