desto

[ˈdɛsto]

/[ˈdɛsto]/ conj

The verdict

“desto” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #2,102. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,102
frequency rank, German
2,764
“D” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - oft in der Verbindung je … desto: leitet einen Satz ein, der eine proportionale Verstärkung als Folge des Inhalts des vorhergehenden Teilsatzes zum Ausdruck bringt;

Corpus desk

Index DE-desto · desto · German

desto · rank #2,102 · 7 variants · 17 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,102
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,764
  • PHOTO-FINISH daneben

Nearest frequency peer: daneben (-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 „desto“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „desto“ 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).

desto vs det
60% similar
desto vs Deut
40% similar
desto vs dito
60% similar

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

Key facts for desto
PropertyValue
Headworddesto
LanguageGerman
Part of speechConjunction
IPA[ˈdɛsto]
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,102
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „desto“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.destoliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „daneben“ (#2,101), „dringend“ (#2,103), „Charakter“ (#2,100). Unter 2,764 „D“-Lemmata liegt „desto“ bei #2,102. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around desto (IPA [ˈdɛsto]), aconjunction. Corpus frequency is #2,102 among 2,764 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "oft in der Verbindung je … desto: leitet einen Satz ein, der eine proportionale Verstärkung als Folge des Inhalts des vorhergehenden Teilsatzes zum Ausdruck bringt;".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for desto, with forms such as "ddesto", "desot", and "dessto". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "det", "Deut", "dito", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is desto, spelled D-E-S-T-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    oft in der Verbindung je … desto: leitet einen Satz ein, der eine proportionale Verstärkung als Folge des Inhalts des vorhergehenden Teilsatzes zum Ausdruck bringt;

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Er bezog den einen Flügel des Erdgeschosses. Der andere Teil blieb vorläufig leer, da der Fürst in der Einrichtung dem Geschmack und den Wünschen seiner Braut […] nicht vorgreifen wollte. Mit desto größerem Eifer ließ er an der Ausstattung der Beletage arbeiten, deren prachtvolle Räume für die Fürstin Mutter […] bestimmt waren.“
  2. „Von düsteren Ahnungen getrieben, beschleunigte der junge Häuptling seinen Schritt, um die Festung desto schneller zu erreichen.“

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddesto
  • desot
  • dessto
  • destto
  • detso
  • dseto
  • edsto

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of desto - 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.

ddesto1desot2dessto1destto1detso2dseto2edsto2
Edit distance from "desto"

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 "desto"?
"desto" is spelled D-E-S-T-O. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈdɛsto].
What does "desto" mean?
As a conjunction, "desto" means: oft in der Verbindung je … desto: leitet einen Satz ein, der eine proportionale Verstärkung als Folge des Inhalts des vorhergehenden Teilsatzes zum Ausdruck bringt;
What words are commonly confused with "desto"?
"desto" is commonly confused with "det", "Deut", "dito". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "desto"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "desto" is [ˈdɛsto]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "desto" come from?
"desto" 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 "desto", 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