unterevsuntersteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,659
“untere” frequency rank
#19,431
“unterste” frequency rank
25090
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature untere unterste
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs unter- Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs unter-

Where the eye mixes untere and unterste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. untere runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against unterste's 8 (VCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
untere
8 ch
unterste

Look-alike desk: untere vs unterste

A purely visual mix-up. untere ([ˈʊntəʁə]) and unterste ([ˈʊntɐstə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

untere is recorded at frequency rank #5,659, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntəʁə]. unterste is at rank #19,431, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntɐstə].

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 25090, this pair ranks #1,838,298 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of untere vs unterste

Shared letters: enrtu. Private to "untere": -. Private to "unterste": s.

"untere" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "unterste" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • untere ← nutere · unetre · unntere · unteer · unterre · untree · unttere · utnere
  • unterste ← nuterste · unetrste · unnterste · unterrste · unterset · untersste · unterstte · untertse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "untere" and "unterste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊntəʁə] versus [ˈʊntɐstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "untere" or "unterste"?
"untere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,659 in our German list, against #19,431 for "unterste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "untere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unterste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,838,298 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "untere" and "unterste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "untersagte vs unterste". 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 #1,838,298 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