steril

[ˌʃteˈʁiːl]

/[ˌʃteˈʁiːl]/ adj

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

The verdict

“steril” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #35,465. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#35,465
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ohne Krankheitskeime

Corpus desk

Index DE-steril · steril · German

steril · rank #35,465 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #35,465
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH stilisiert

Nearest frequency peer: stilisiert (+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 „steril“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „steril“ 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).

steril vs Stil
50% similar
steril vs Stern
50% similar
steril vs strip
67% similar

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

Key facts for steril
PropertyValue
Headwordsteril
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˌʃteˈʁiːl]
Letters6
Frequency rank#35,465
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „steril“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).sterilliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „stilisiert“ (#35,466), „Standes“ (#35,463), „Stilllegung“ (#35,467). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „steril“ bei #35,465. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around steril (IPA [ˌʃteˈʁiːl]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #35,465 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for steril, with forms such as "setril", "ssteril", and "steirl". 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, "Stil", "Stern", "strip", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is steril, spelled S-T-E-R-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    ohne Krankheitskeime
  2. 2
    unfähig, sich fortzupflanzen
  3. 3
    geistig unfruchtbar; von der Wirkung her kalt und abweisend

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Injektionsspritzen müssen unbedingt steril sein.
  2. Ich wollte mein Hamster wäre steril.

Synonyms

keimfreihygienischunfruchtbarinfertilunfruchtbarunschöpferischunkreativunproduktivimpotentkaltungemütlich

Antonyms

unsterilkeimbelastetunhygienischfertilfruchtbarproduktivfertilfruchtbarfruchtbringendschöpferischkreativproduktivüppigwarmgemütlich

This word in other languages

sterile(English)stérile(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • setril
  • ssteril
  • steirl
  • sterill
  • sterli
  • sterril
  • streil
  • stteril
  • tseril

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of steril - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

setril2ssteril1steirl2sterill1sterli2sterril1streil2stteril1
Edit distance from "steril"

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 "steril"?
"steril" is spelled S-T-E-R-I-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ˌʃteˈʁiːl].
What does "steril" mean?
As an adjective, "steril" means: ohne Krankheitskeime
What words are commonly confused with "steril"?
"steril" is commonly confused with "Stil", "Stern", "strip". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "steril"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "steril" is [ˌʃteˈʁiːl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "steril" come from?
"steril" 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 "steril", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Slawen#35,449Tivoli#35,483Ultima#35,494Rüssel#35,429

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Spanner9 variantsSchippe9 variantsRosalie9 variantsrivers9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list