unterlegenvsunterlegeneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,309
“unterlegen” frequency rank
#46,358
“unterlegene” frequency rank
62667
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unterlegen unterlegene
Definition im direkten Vergleich schlechter dastehend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unterlegen

Where the eye mixes unterlegen and unterlegene

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. unterlegen runs 10 letters (VCCVCCVCVC) against unterlegene's 11 (VCCVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
unterlegen
11 ch
unterlegene

Visual trap between unterlegen and unterlegene

A purely visual mix-up. unterlegen ([ˌʊntɐˈleːɡn̩]) and unterlegene ([ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənə]) 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) - “unterlegen” sits inside “unterlegene”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unterlegen is recorded at frequency rank #16,309, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡn̩]. unterlegene is at rank #46,358, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənə].

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 62667, this pair ranks #704,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unterlegen vs unterlegene

Shared letters: eglnrtu. Private to "unterlegen": -. Private to "unterlegene": -.

"unterlegen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC  ·  "unterlegene" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unterlegen ← nuterlegen · unetrlegen · unnterlegen · untelregen · unterelgen · unterleegn · unterlegenn · unterleggen
  • unterlegene ← nuterlegene · unetrlegene · unnterlegene · untelregene · unterelgene · unterleegne · unterlegeen · unterleggene

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unterlegen" and "unterlegene" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˌʊntɐˈleːɡn̩] versus [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "unterlegen" vs "unterlegene" - which ranks higher?
"unterlegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,309 in our German list, against #46,358 for "unterlegene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "unterlegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "unterlegene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #704,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unterlegen" and "unterlegene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterlegene vs unterlegenen". 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 #704,482 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