Which to use
“unterlegen” and “unterlegenen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,309
- “unterlegen” frequency rank
- #42,211
- “unterlegenen” frequency rank
- 58520
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | unterlegen | unterlegenen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | im direkten Vergleich schlechter dastehend | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs unterlegen |
Where the eye mixes unterlegen and unterlegenen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. unterlegen runs 10 letters (VCCVCCVCVC) against unterlegenen's 12 (VCCVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses unterlegen with unterlegenen
A purely visual mix-up. unterlegen ([ˌʊntɐˈleːɡn̩]) and unterlegenen ([ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənən]) 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) - “unterlegen” sits inside “unterlegenen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58520, 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]. unterlegenen is at rank #42,211, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈleːɡənən].
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 58520, this pair ranks #859,622 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of unterlegen vs unterlegenen
Shared letters: eglnrtu. Private to "unterlegen": -. Private to "unterlegenen": -.
"unterlegen" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC · "unterlegenen" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- unterlegen ← nuterlegen · unetrlegen · unnterlegen · untelregen · unterelgen · unterleegn · unterlegenn · unterleggen
- unterlegenen ← nuterlegenen · unetrlegenen · unnterlegenen · untelregenen · unterelgenen · unterleegnen · unterlegeenn · unterlegenenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "unterlegen" for "unterlegenen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "unterlegen" or "unterlegenen" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "unterlegen" and "unterlegenen" 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 "unterlegenen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #859,622 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "unterlegen" and "unterlegenen" 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 #859,622 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.