Which to use
“üble” and “übles” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,070
- “üble” frequency rank
- #45,081
- “übles” frequency rank
- 61151
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | üble | übles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs übel | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs übel |
Where the eye mixes üble and übles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. üble runs 4 letters (VCCV) against übles's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses üble with übles
A purely visual mix-up. üble ([ˈyːblə]) and übles ([ˈyːbləs]) 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 extra letter(s) - “üble” sits inside “übles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
üble is recorded at frequency rank #16,070, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈyːblə]. übles is at rank #45,081, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈyːbləs].
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 61151, this pair ranks #760,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of üble vs übles
Shared letters: belü. Private to "üble": -. Private to "übles": s.
"üble" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "übles" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "üble" and "übles" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "üble" or "übles" show up more?
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 "üble" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "übles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #760,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "üble" and "übles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Übels vs übles". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #760,469 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.