wichtigenvswichtigstenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,044
“wichtigen” frequency rank
#1,751
“wichtigsten” frequency rank
3795
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wichtigen wichtigsten
Definition Formen der starken Flexion des Adjektivs wichtig: ** Genitiv Singular Maskulinum, Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum ** Genitiv Singular Neutrum ** Dativ Plural Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs wichtig

Where the eye mixes wichtigen and wichtigsten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. wichtigen runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVC) against wichtigsten's 11 (CVCCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
wichtigen
11 ch
wichtigsten

Why the eye confuses wichtigen with wichtigsten

A purely visual mix-up. wichtigen ([ˈvɪçtɪɡn̩]) and wichtigsten ([ˈvɪçtɪçstn̩]) 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 3795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wichtigen is recorded at frequency rank #2,044, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪçtɪɡn̩]. wichtigsten is at rank #1,751, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪçtɪçstn̩].

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 3795, this pair ranks #1,999,349 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wichtigen vs wichtigsten

Shared letters: ceghintw. Private to "wichtigen": -. Private to "wichtigsten": s.

"wichtigen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "wichtigsten" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wichtigeniwchtigen · wcihtigen · wicchtigen · wichhtigen · wichitgen · wichtgien · wichtiegn · wichtigenn
  • wichtigsteniwchtigsten · wcihtigsten · wicchtigsten · wichhtigsten · wichitgsten · wichtgisten · wichtiggsten · wichtigsetn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "wichtigen" and "wichtigsten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪçtɪɡn̩] versus [ˈvɪçtɪçstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "wichtigen" or "wichtigsten" show up more?
"wichtigsten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,751 in our German list, against #2,044 for "wichtigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "wichtigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wichtigsten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,999,349 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wichtigen" and "wichtigsten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wichtigen vs wichtigeren". 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 #1,999,349 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