Which to use
“übertreiben” is a verb and “übertrieben” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,296
- “übertreiben” frequency rank
- #6,385
- “übertrieben” frequency rank
- 19681
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | übertreiben | übertrieben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen Sachverhalt in einer Weise darstellen, dass er mehr einer Eigenschaft besitzt als in Wirklichkeit | viel mehr als nötig; zu viel |
Where the eye mixes übertreiben and übertrieben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. übertreiben and übertrieben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: übertreiben vs übertrieben
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: übertreiben is [yːbɐˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩] while übertrieben is [ˌyːbɐˈtʁiːbn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ei ↔ ie) - a transposition the eye reads straight past, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
übertreiben is recorded at frequency rank #13,296, classified as averb, pronounced [yːbɐˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩]. übertrieben is at rank #6,385, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈtʁiːbn̩].
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 19681, this pair ranks #1,905,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of übertreiben vs übertrieben
Shared letters: beinrtü. Private to "übertreiben": -. Private to "übertrieben": -.
"übertreiben" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCCVVCVC · "übertrieben" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "übertreiben" for "übertrieben" ever safe?
Frequency check: "übertreiben" vs "übertrieben" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "übertreiben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "übertrieben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,905,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "übertreiben" and "übertrieben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "übertreibe vs übertreiben". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,905,760 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.