überragendvsübertragenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#20,812
“überragend” frequency rank
#2,228
“übertragen” frequency rank
23040
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überragend übertragen
Definition besser als vergleichbare Sachen ein Wort nicht im ursprünglichen Sinne verwendet

Where the eye mixes überragend and übertragen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

10 ch
überragend
10 ch
übertragen

Visual trap between überragend and übertragen

A purely visual mix-up. überragend ([ˌyːbɐˈʁaːɡn̩t]) and übertragen ([ˌyːbɐˈtʁaːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 6 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überragend is recorded at frequency rank #20,812, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈʁaːɡn̩t]. übertragen is at rank #2,228, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈtʁaːɡn̩].

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 23040, this pair ranks #1,866,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of überragend vs übertragen

Shared letters: abegnrü. Private to "überragend": d. Private to "übertragen": t.

"überragend" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCVCC  ·  "übertragen" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "überragend" and "übertragen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˌyːbɐˈʁaːɡn̩t] versus [ˌyːbɐˈtʁaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "überragend" vs "übertragen" - which ranks higher?
"übertragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,228 in our German list, against #20,812 for "überragend". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "überragend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "übertragen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,866,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überragend" and "übertragen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überragend vs überragender". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,866,524 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