Dieb
[diːp]
The verdict
“Dieb” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #9,700 in German word frequency and used as a noun.
- #9,700
- frequency rank, German
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - jemand, der stiehlt, der eines anderen Eigentum wegnimmt
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 | Dieb |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [diːp] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #9,700 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Dieb” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Dieb is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [diːp]. Corpus data places it at rank #9,700 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for Dieb, with forms such as "ddieb", "deib", and "dibe". 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, "DIN", "div", "due", 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 best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is Dieb, spelled D-I-E-B.
Definition
- 1jemand, der stiehlt, der eines anderen Eigentum wegnimmt
- 2Schelm, Kind
- 3Mark einer Schreibfeder
- 4Dekanter
- 5Nebendocht einer Kerze
- 6Kräuterdieb;
- 7Buckelkäfer;
- 8Molkendieb, Milchdieb, einen weißen Schmetterling;
- 9Person, die einen Diebstahl begeht, also einem anderen eine fremde bewegliche Sache wegnimmt, um sie sich oder einem Dritten rechtswidrig zuzueignen
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddieb,deib,dibe,diebb,ideb
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Dieb - 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
How do you spell "Dieb"?
What does "Dieb" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Dieb”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is D-I-E-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [diːp] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “DIN” - see the side-by-side comparison. Dieb vs DIN
- 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.