übelstvsübersätWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: übelst is a particle, übersät is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“übelst” is a particle and “übersät” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,477
“übelst” frequency rank
#39,173
“übersät” frequency rank
73650
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature übelst übersät
Definition jugendsprachlich: über die ganze Fläche hin gleichmäßig mit etwas Gleichartigem bedeckt

Where the eye mixes übelst and übersät

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. übelst runs 6 letters (VCVCCC) against übersät's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
übelst
7 ch
übersät

Look-alike desk: übelst vs übersät

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: übelst is [ˈyːbl̩st] while übersät is [yːbɐˈzɛːt]. 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 (particle vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73650, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

übelst is recorded at frequency rank #34,477, classified as aparticle, pronounced [ˈyːbl̩st]. übersät is at rank #39,173, tagged as anadj, pronounced [yːbɐˈzɛːt].

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 73650, this pair ranks #354,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of übelst vs übersät

Shared letters: bestü. Private to "übelst": l. Private to "übersät": rä.

"übelst" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCC  ·  "übersät" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "übelst" and "übersät" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "übelst" is a particle and "übersät" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "übelst" vs "übersät" - which ranks higher?
"übelst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,477 in our German list, against #39,173 for "übersät". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "übelst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "übersät" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #354,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "übelst" and "übersät" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überbau vs übersät". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #354,564 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