wichtigstenvswichtigsterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,751
“wichtigsten” frequency rank
#22,216
“wichtigster” frequency rank
23967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wichtigsten wichtigster
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs wichtig Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs wichtig

Where the eye mixes wichtigsten and wichtigster

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. wichtigsten and wichtigster follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
wichtigsten
11 ch
wichtigster

Visual trap between wichtigsten and wichtigster

A purely visual mix-up. wichtigsten ([ˈvɪçtɪçstn̩]) and wichtigster ([ˈvɪçtɪçstɐ]) 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 a single letter - n in “wichtigsten” becomes r in “wichtigster”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wichtigsten is recorded at frequency rank #1,751, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪçtɪçstn̩]. wichtigster is at rank #22,216, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪçtɪçstɐ].

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 23967, this pair ranks #1,854,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wichtigsten vs wichtigster

Shared letters: ceghistw. Private to "wichtigsten": n. Private to "wichtigster": r.

"wichtigsten" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCCVC  ·  "wichtigster" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wichtigsteniwchtigsten · wcihtigsten · wicchtigsten · wichhtigsten · wichitgsten · wichtgisten · wichtiggsten · wichtigsetn
  • wichtigsteriwchtigster · wcihtigster · wicchtigster · wichhtigster · wichitgster · wichtgister · wichtiggster · wichtigsetr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "wichtigsten" for "wichtigster" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪçtɪçstn̩] versus [ˈvɪçtɪçstɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wichtigsten" or "wichtigster"?
"wichtigsten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,751 in our German list, against #22,216 for "wichtigster". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "wichtigsten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wichtigster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,854,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wichtigsten" and "wichtigster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wichtigster vs wichtigstes". 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 #1,854,095 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