tollstevstollstenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#33,855
“tollste” frequency rank
#38,448
“tollsten” frequency rank
72303
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tollste tollsten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs toll Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs toll

Where the eye mixes tollste and tollsten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. tollste runs 7 letters (CVCCCCV) against tollsten's 8 (CVCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
tollste
8 ch
tollsten

Visual trap between tollste and tollsten

A purely visual mix-up. tollste ([ˈtɔlstə]) and tollsten ([ˈtɔlstn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “tollste” sits inside “tollsten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72303, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tollste is recorded at frequency rank #33,855, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈtɔlstə]. tollsten is at rank #38,448, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈtɔlstn̩].

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 72303, this pair ranks #392,083 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tollste vs tollsten

Shared letters: elost. Private to "tollste": -. Private to "tollsten": n.

"tollste" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV  ·  "tollsten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tollste ← otllste · tlolste · tollset · tollsste · tollstte · tolltse · tolslte · tolste
  • tollsten ← otllsten · tlolsten · tollsetn · tollssten · tollstenn · tollstne · tollstten · tolltsen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tollste" for "tollsten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtɔlstə] versus [ˈtɔlstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "tollste" or "tollsten" show up more?
"tollste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,855 in our German list, against #38,448 for "tollsten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "tollste" and "tollsten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tollste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tollsten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #392,083 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tollste" and "tollsten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tollen vs tollsten". 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 #392,083 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