VampirvsvampireWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,751
“Vampir” frequency rank
#13,506
“vampire” frequency rank
31257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vampir vampire
Definition aus dem slawischen Volksglauben stammende, nachtaktive Sagengestalt, die sich von Blut ernährt blutsaugender, toter Mensch (Fantasiegestalt); Vampir

Where the eye mixes Vampir and vampire

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Vampir
7 ch
vampire

Look-alike desk: Vampir vs vampire

A purely visual mix-up. Vampir ([vamˈpiːɐ̯]) and vampire ([ˈvæm.paɪ.ə]) 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) - “Vampir” sits inside “vampire”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vampir is recorded at frequency rank #17,751, classified as anoun, pronounced [vamˈpiːɐ̯]. vampire is at rank #13,506, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvæm.paɪ.ə].

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 31257, this pair ranks #1,731,748 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Vampir vs vampire

Shared letters: aimprv. Private to "Vampir": -. Private to "vampire": e.

"Vampir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "vampire" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vampiravmpir · vamipr · vammpir · vampirr · vamppir · vampri · vapmir · vmapir
  • vampireavmpire · vamipre · vammpire · vampier · vampirre · vamppire · vamprie · vapmire

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Vampir" for "vampire" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([vamˈpiːɐ̯] versus [ˈvæm.paɪ.ə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Vampir" or "vampire" show up more?
"vampire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,506 in our German list, against #17,751 for "Vampir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vampir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vampire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,731,748 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #1,731,748 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