ÜbelsvsübelsteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Übels is a noun, übelste is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Übels” is a noun and “übelste” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,750
“Übels” frequency rank
#34,478
“übelste” frequency rank
74228
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Übels übelste
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Übel Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs übel

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Übels and übelste apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Übels
7 ch
übelste

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Übels is [ˈyːbl̩s] while übelste is [ˈyːbl̩stə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Übels” sits inside “übelste”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Übels is recorded at frequency rank #39,750, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈyːbl̩s]. übelste is at rank #34,478, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈyːbl̩stə].

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 74228, this pair ranks #339,016 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Übels vs übelste

Shared letters: belsü. Private to "Übels": -. Private to "übelste": t.

"Übels" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "übelste" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCCV

Frequency comparison

Übels#39,750
übelste#34,478

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Übels" and "übelste" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Übels" is a noun and "übelste" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Übels" or "übelste"?
"übelste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,478 in our German list, against #39,750 for "Übels". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Übels vs übelste

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Übels”; for an adjective, it's “übelste”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Übels” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list