bitter
[ˈbɪtɐ]
The verdict
“bitter” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #6,281 in German word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #6,281
- frequency rank, German
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - einen besonders herben Geschmack habend, der oft als unangenehm wahrgenommen wird
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bitter |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ˈbɪtɐ] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #6,281 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bitter” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for bitter is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈbɪtɐ]. Corpus data places it at rank #6,281 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for bitter, with forms such as "bbitter", "biter", and "bitetr". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Butter", "bittet", "Butler", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is bitter, spelled B-I-T-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1einen besonders herben Geschmack habend, der oft als unangenehm wahrgenommen wird
- 2sehr unangenehm, enttäuschend, besonders schlecht
- 3eine Verstärkung zum Ausdruck bringend
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbitter,biter,bitetr,bitterr,bittre,btiter,ibtter
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bitter - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “bitter”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is B-I-T-T-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈbɪtɐ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Butter” - see the side-by-side comparison. bitter vs Butter
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.