blau

[blaʊ̯]

/[blaʊ̯]/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“blau” has 5 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #1,871. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,871
frequency rank, German
5,818
“B” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - eine bunte Farbe, im Spektrum eine relativ kurzwellige Farbe zwischen grün und violett; Grundfarbe vieler Farbmodelle, insbesondere eine der drei Grundfarben des digitalen RGB-Farbraums

Corpus desk

Index DE-blau · blau · German

blau · rank #1,871 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,871
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,818
  • PHOTO-FINISH Anna

Nearest frequency peer: Anna (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “blau”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “blau” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

blau vs bu
50% similar
blau vs blu
75% similar
blau vs boa
50% similar

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

Key facts for blau
PropertyValue
Headwordblau
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[blaʊ̯]
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,871
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “blau” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.blauliegt hier:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Anna“ (#1,870), „Bund“ (#1,872), „Alkohol“ (#1,869). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around blau (IPA [blaʊ̯]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #1,871 among 5,818 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for blau, with forms such as "balu", "bblau", and "bllau". 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, "bu", "blu", "boa", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is blau, spelled B-L-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    eine bunte Farbe, im Spektrum eine relativ kurzwellige Farbe zwischen grün und violett; Grundfarbe vieler Farbmodelle, insbesondere eine der drei Grundfarben des digitalen RGB-Farbraums
  2. 2
    betrunken
  3. 3
    zyanotisch, bläuliche Färbung der Haut, wenn sie mit zu wenig sauerstoffreichem Blut versorgt wird
  4. 4
    indekliniertes Adjektiv, nur attributiv dem Substantiv nachgestellt: Zubereitungsart von Fisch

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Eine Frage die sich mir schon seit Jahren stellt. Wenn man sich im Web umsieht, sind ca. 90% der Designs immer und immer wieder blau.“
  2. Der Seemann ist schon wieder blau und passt damit in ein abgedroschenes Klischee.

Synonyms

besoffenbetrunkenvollzubenebeltangesäuselteinen Affen habenzyanotisch

Antonyms

nüchternfittopfitgebratengegrillt

This word in other languages

blue(English)azul(Español)bleu(Français)azul(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • balu
  • bblau
  • bllau
  • blua
  • lbau

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of blau - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

balu2bblau1bllau1blua2lbau2
Edit distance from "blau"

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 "blau"?
"blau" is spelled B-L-A-U. The IPA pronunciation is [blaʊ̯].
What does "blau" mean?
As an adjective, "blau" means: eine bunte Farbe, im Spektrum eine relativ kurzwellige Farbe zwischen grün und violett; Grundfarbe vieler Farbmodelle, insbesondere eine der drei Grundfarben des digitalen RGB-Farbraums
What words are commonly confused with "blau"?
"blau" is commonly confused with "bu", "blu", "boa". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "blau"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "blau" is [blaʊ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "blau" come from?
"blau" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "blau", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Anna#1,870Bund#1,872euer#1,880Main#1,854

Similar misspelling depth

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

Ziele5 variantsEcke5 variantsStil5 variantsKino5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "blau". Here's where to go from here.

  • "blau" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "bu". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #1,871 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "B" letter cohort. B–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list