Ruf

[ʁuːf]

/[ʁuːf]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Ruf” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #2,317) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#2,317
frequency rank, German
2,984
“R” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ein Laut, der an jemanden adressiert ist

Corpus desk

Index DE-ruf · Ruf · German

Ruf · rank #2,317 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,317
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,984
  • PHOTO-FINISH Pflicht

Nearest frequency peer: Pflicht (-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 “Ruf”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “Ruf” 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).

Ruf vs RV
33% similar
Ruf vs RZ
33% similar
Ruf vs Rum
67% similar

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

Key facts for Ruf
PropertyValue
HeadwordRuf
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ʁuːf]
Letters3
Frequency rank#2,317
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “Ruf” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Pflicht“ (#2,316), „ruft“ (#2,318), „Pass“ (#2,315). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Ruf is neighbouring look-alikes ("RV", "RZ", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ʁuːf]. Frequency #2,317 among 2,984 “R” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Ruf, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "RV", "RZ", "Rum", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is Ruf, spelled R-U-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    ein Laut, der an jemanden adressiert ist
  2. 2
    das Ansehen, das jemand bei anderen hat
  3. 3
    eine Aufforderung, beispielsweise einen Platz oder eine Position (an einer Universität) einzunehmen oder etwas zu tun

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Der Ruf „Feuer!“ hallte durch das Haus.
  2. „Die üppigen Ansprüche vieler Konzernchefs heizen den allgemeinen Unmut und die Rufe nach staatlicher Deckelung weiter an.“

Synonyms

SchreiImageLeumundPrestigeRenommeeReputationAngebotBerufung

Antonyms

GeflüsterGewisper

This word in other languages

call(English)grito(Español)appel(Français)reputação(Português)

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 "Ruf"?
"Ruf" is spelled R-U-F. The IPA pronunciation is [ʁuːf].
What does "Ruf" mean?
As a noun, "Ruf" means: ein Laut, der an jemanden adressiert ist
What words are commonly confused with "Ruf"?
"Ruf" is commonly confused with "RV", "RZ", "Rum". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Ruf"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Ruf" is [ʁuːf]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Ruf" come from?
"Ruf" 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 "Ruf", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

nah#2,353Ost#2,356tja#2,365Uni#2,366

What to do next

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

  • "Ruf" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "RV". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #2,317 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "R" letter cohort. R–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