überragendevsübertrageneWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,270
“überragende” frequency rank
#39,753
“übertragene” frequency rank
66023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature überragende übertragene
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs überragend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs übertragen

Where the eye mixes überragende and übertragene

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. überragende (VCVCCVCVCCV) and übertragene (VCVCCCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

11 ch
überragende
11 ch
übertragene

Visual trap between überragende and übertragene

A purely visual mix-up. überragende ([ˌyːbɐˈʁaːɡn̩də]) and übertragene ([ˌyːbɐˈtʁaːɡənə]) 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 66023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

überragende is recorded at frequency rank #26,270, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈʁaːɡn̩də]. übertragene is at rank #39,753, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈtʁaːɡənə].

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 66023, this pair ranks #587,115 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of überragende vs übertragene

Shared letters: abegnrü. Private to "überragende": d. Private to "übertragene": t.

"überragende" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVCVCCV  ·  "übertragene" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCCVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "überragende" for "übertragene" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˌyːbɐˈʁaːɡn̩də] versus [ˌyːbɐˈtʁaːɡənə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "überragende" or "übertragene" show up more?
"überragende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,270 in our German list, against #39,753 for "übertragene". 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 "überragende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "übertragene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #587,115 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "überragende" and "übertragene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "überragende vs überragender". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #587,115 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