unterschiedlichevsunterschiedlichsteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,182
“unterschiedliche” frequency rank
#42,890
“unterschiedlichste” frequency rank
45072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature unterschiedliche unterschiedlichste
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs unterschiedlich Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs unterschiedlich

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set unterschiedliche and unterschiedlichste apart are highlighted. They share 16 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

16 ch
unterschiedliche
18 ch
unterschiedlichste

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. unterschiedliche ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçə]) and unterschiedlichste ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçstə]) 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 45072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unterschiedliche is recorded at frequency rank #2,182, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçə]. unterschiedlichste is at rank #42,890, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçstə].

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 45072, this pair ranks #1,365,440 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unterschiedliche vs unterschiedlichste

Shared letters: cdehilnrstu. Private to "unterschiedliche": -. Private to "unterschiedlichste": -.

"unterschiedliche" · 16 letters · shape VCCVCCCCVVCCVCCV  ·  "unterschiedlichste" · 18 letters · shape VCCVCCCCVVCCVCCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • unterschiedlichenuterschiedliche · unetrschiedliche · unnterschiedliche · untercshiedliche · unterrschiedliche · unterscchiedliche · unterscheidliche · unterschhiedliche
  • unterschiedlichstenuterschiedlichste · unetrschiedlichste · unnterschiedlichste · untercshiedlichste · unterrschiedlichste · unterscchiedlichste · unterscheidlichste · unterschhiedlichste

Frequency comparison

unterschiedliche#2,182
unterschiedlichste#42,890

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unterschiedliche" and "unterschiedlichste" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçə] versus [ˈʊntɐˌʃiːtlɪçstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "unterschiedliche" or "unterschiedlichste"?
"unterschiedliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,182 in our German list, against #42,890 for "unterschiedlichste". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering unterschiedliche vs unterschiedlichste

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list