überlegenevsüberlegteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,154
“überlegene” frequency rank
#24,223
“überlegte” frequency rank
51377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überlegene überlegte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs überlegen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs überlegt

Where the eye mixes überlegene and überlegte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. überlegene runs 10 letters (VCVCCVCVCV) against überlegte's 9 (VCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
überlegene
9 ch
überlegte

Look-alike desk: überlegene vs überlegte

A purely visual mix-up. überlegene ([ˌyːbɐˈleːɡənə]) and überlegte ([ˌyːbɐˈleːktə]) 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 51377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überlegene is recorded at frequency rank #27,154, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈleːɡənə]. überlegte is at rank #24,223, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈleːktə].

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 51377, this pair ranks #1,137,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of überlegene vs überlegte

Shared letters: beglrü. Private to "überlegene": n. Private to "überlegte": t.

"überlegene" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCVCV  ·  "überlegte" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "überlegene" for "überlegte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˌyːbɐˈleːɡənə] versus [ˌyːbɐˈleːktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "überlegene" or "überlegte"?
"überlegte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,223 in our German list, against #27,154 for "überlegene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "überlegene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "überlegte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,137,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überlegene" and "überlegte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überlegene vs überlesen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,137,851 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