adult

[aˈdʊlt]

/[aˈdʊlt]/ adj

The verdict

“adult” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #22,243. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#22,243
frequency rank, German
6,976
“A” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - erwachsen, geschlechtsreif

Corpus desk

Index DE-adult · adult · German

adult · rank #22,243 · 7 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #22,243
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,976
  • PHOTO-FINISH ahnte

Nearest frequency peer: ahnte (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „adult“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „adult“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

adult vs alt
60% similar
adult vs aut
60% similar
adult vs akut
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for adult
PropertyValue
Headwordadult
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[aˈdʊlt]
Letters5
Frequency rank#22,243
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „adult“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).adultliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „ahnte“ (#22,244), „Abstände“ (#22,241), „akustische“ (#22,245). Unter 6,976 „A“-Lemmata liegt „adult“ bei #22,243. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around adult (IPA [aˈdʊlt]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #22,243 among 6,976 “A” headwords. Dominant gloss: "erwachsen, geschlechtsreif".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for adult, with forms such as "addult", "adlut", and "adullt". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "alt", "aut", "akut", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is adult, spelled A-D-U-L-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    erwachsen, geschlechtsreif

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how adult appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Ein rüder Trick, der aber eine kleine Sensation ermöglichte: In den maltraitierten Nagern hat Xiaobo Xu von der Vrije Universiteit in Brüssel nämlich erstmals jene adulten Stammzellen identifiziert, die in der erwachsenen Bauchspeicheldrüse schlummern und sich zu neuen, Insulin-produzierende Zellen entwickeln können.“
  2. „Am meisten fasziniert die Forscher derzeit die "adulte Neurogenese", die Neugeburt von Nervenzellen bei Erwachsenen.“

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • addult
  • adlut
  • adullt
  • adultt
  • adutl
  • audlt
  • dault

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of adult - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

addult1adlut2adullt1adultt1adutl2audlt2dault2
Edit distance from "adult"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "adult"?
"adult" is spelled A-D-U-L-T. The IPA pronunciation is [aˈdʊlt].
What does "adult" mean?
As an adjective, "adult" means: erwachsen, geschlechtsreif
What words are commonly confused with "adult"?
"adult" is commonly confused with "alt", "aut", "akut". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "adult"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "adult" is [aˈdʊlt]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "adult" come from?
"adult" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "adult", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list