übertriebenvsübertriebenenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,385
“übertrieben” frequency rank
#36,761
“übertriebenen” frequency rank
43146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature übertrieben übertriebenen
Definition viel mehr als nötig; zu viel Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs übertrieben

Where the eye mixes übertrieben and übertriebenen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. übertrieben runs 11 letters (VCVCCCVVCVC) against übertriebenen's 13 (VCVCCCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
übertrieben
13 ch
übertriebenen

Why the eye confuses übertrieben with übertriebenen

A purely visual mix-up. übertrieben ([ˌyːbɐˈtʁiːbn̩]) and übertriebenen ([ˌyːbɐˈtʁiːbənən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “übertrieben” sits inside “übertriebenen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

übertrieben is recorded at frequency rank #6,385, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈtʁiːbn̩]. übertriebenen is at rank #36,761, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌyːbɐˈtʁiːbənən].

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 43146, this pair ranks #1,427,226 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of übertrieben vs übertriebenen

Shared letters: beinrtü. Private to "übertrieben": -. Private to "übertriebenen": -.

"übertrieben" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCCVVCVC  ·  "übertriebenen" · 13 letters · shape VCVCCCVVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "übertrieben" and "übertriebenen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˌyːbɐˈtʁiːbn̩] versus [ˌyːbɐˈtʁiːbənən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "übertrieben" or "übertriebenen"?
"übertrieben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,385 in our German list, against #36,761 for "übertriebenen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "übertrieben" and "übertriebenen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "übertrieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "übertriebenen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,427,226 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "übertrieben" and "übertriebenen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "übertriebene vs übertriebenen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,427,226 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