ungewissvsungewisseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,413
“ungewiss” frequency rank
#37,840
“ungewisse” frequency rank
56253
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ungewiss ungewisse
Definition (noch) nicht feststehend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs ungewiss

Where the eye mixes ungewiss and ungewisse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. ungewiss runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCC) against ungewisse's 9 (VCCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
ungewiss
9 ch
ungewisse

Why the eye confuses ungewiss with ungewisse

A purely visual mix-up. ungewiss ([ˈʊnɡəvɪs]) and ungewisse ([ˈʊnɡəvɪsə]) 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) - “ungewiss” sits inside “ungewisse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56253, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ungewiss is recorded at frequency rank #18,413, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊnɡəvɪs]. ungewisse is at rank #37,840, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊnɡəvɪsə].

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 56253, this pair ranks #947,414 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ungewiss vs ungewisse

Shared letters: eginsuw. Private to "ungewiss": -. Private to "ungewisse": -.

"ungewiss" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC  ·  "ungewisse" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ungewiss ← nugewiss · ugnewiss · unegwiss · ungeiwss · ungewis · ungewiß · ungewsis · ungewwiss
  • ungewisse ← nugewisse · ugnewisse · unegwisse · ungeiwsse · ungewise · ungewises · ungewiße · ungewsise

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ungewiss" for "ungewisse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊnɡəvɪs] versus [ˈʊnɡəvɪsə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ungewiss" vs "ungewisse" - which ranks higher?
"ungewiss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,413 in our German list, against #37,840 for "ungewisse". 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 "ungewiss" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ungewisse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #947,414 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ungewiss" and "ungewisse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ungewisse vs ungewissen". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #947,414 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