unterlegtvsUnterweltWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: unterlegt is a verb, Unterwelt is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“unterlegt” is a verb and “Unterwelt” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,898
“unterlegt” frequency rank
#17,169
“Unterwelt” frequency rank
46067
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unterlegt Unterwelt
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs unterlegen das unterirdische Totenreich in der Mythologie

Where the eye mixes unterlegt and Unterwelt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. unterlegt and Unterwelt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
unterlegt
9 ch
Unterwelt

Visual trap between unterlegt and Unterwelt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unterlegt is [ˌʊntɐˈleːkt] while Unterwelt is [ˈʊntɐˌvɛlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unterlegt is recorded at frequency rank #28,898, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌʊntɐˈleːkt]. Unterwelt is at rank #17,169, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌvɛlt].

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 46067, this pair ranks #1,331,712 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unterlegt vs Unterwelt

Shared letters: elnrtu. Private to "unterlegt": g. Private to "Unterwelt": w.

"unterlegt" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC  ·  "Unterwelt" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unterlegt ← nuterlegt · unetrlegt · unnterlegt · untelregt · unterelgt · unterleggt · unterlegtt · unterletg
  • Unterwelt ← nuterwelt · unetrwelt · unnterwelt · unterewlt · unterrwelt · unterwellt · unterweltt · unterwetl

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "unterlegt" and "Unterwelt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "unterlegt" is a verb and "Unterwelt" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "unterlegt" vs "Unterwelt" - which ranks higher?
"Unterwelt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,169 in our German list, against #28,898 for "unterlegt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "unterlegt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Unterwelt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,331,712 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "unterlegt" and "Unterwelt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "unterlegt vs Unterleib". 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 #1,331,712 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