wirksamevswirksamerTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,277
“wirksame” frequency rank
#26,697
“wirksamer” frequency rank
39974
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wirksame wirksamer
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wirksam Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs wirksam

Where the eye mixes wirksame and wirksamer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. wirksame runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCV) against wirksamer's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
wirksame
9 ch
wirksamer

Why the eye confuses wirksame with wirksamer

A purely visual mix-up. wirksame ([ˈvɪʁkˌzaːmə]) and wirksamer ([ˈvɪʁkˌzaːmɐ]) 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) - “wirksame” sits inside “wirksamer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wirksame is recorded at frequency rank #13,277, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁkˌzaːmə]. wirksamer is at rank #26,697, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁkˌzaːmɐ].

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 39974, this pair ranks #1,521,625 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wirksame vs wirksamer

Shared letters: aeikmrsw. Private to "wirksame": -. Private to "wirksamer": -.

"wirksame" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV  ·  "wirksamer" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wirksame ← iwrksame · wikrsame · wirkasme · wirkksame · wirksaem · wirksamme · wirksmae · wirkssame
  • wirksamer ← iwrksamer · wikrsamer · wirkasmer · wirkksamer · wirksaemr · wirksamerr · wirksammer · wirksamre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "wirksame" and "wirksamer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪʁkˌzaːmə] versus [ˈvɪʁkˌzaːmɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wirksame" or "wirksamer"?
"wirksame" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,277 in our German list, against #26,697 for "wirksamer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "wirksame" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wirksamer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,521,625 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wirksame" and "wirksamer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wirksamer vs wirksames". 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 #1,521,625 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