subtil
[zʊpˈtiːl]
The verdict
“subtil” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #25,336. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #25,336
- frequency rank, German
- 8,027
- “S” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - auf eine differenzierte und feine Art vorhanden, angelegt oder gegliedert; in die Feinheiten gehend
Corpus desk
Index DE-subtil · subtil · German
subtil · rank #25,336 · 9 variants · 4 confusables
- FREQ-MID #25,336
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 8,027
- PHOTO-FINISH Stückes
Nearest frequency peer: Stückes (-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 “subtil”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Stromverbra…
Stromverbrauch
74,668 corpus weight
- städtischer
städtischer
74,667 corpus weight
- Stückes
Stückes
74,666 corpus weight
- subtil
subtil
74,665 corpus weight
- südafrikani…
südafrikanischen
74,664 corpus weight
- Südens
Südens
74,663 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “subtil” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | subtil |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [zʊpˈtiːl] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #25,336 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Wo “subtil” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around subtil (IPA [zʊpˈtiːl]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #25,336 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 subtil, with forms such as "sbutil", "ssubtil", and "subbtil". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "subtile", "subtilen", "subtiler", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is subtil, spelled S-U-B-T-I-L.
Definition
- 1auf eine differenzierte und feine Art vorhanden, angelegt oder gegliedert; in die Feinheiten gehend
- 2feinsinnig auf eine positive Art; mit Zartgefühl, Fingerspitzengefühl versehen
- 3scharfsinnig, auf eine eher negative Art hinten herum; mit verhüllten Zielen
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how subtil appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Diese subtilen Zeichnungen erschließen sich erst bei genauerem Hinsehen.
Covid-19-Erkrankungen: „Die britischen Neurologen befürchten, dass die COVID-19-Erkrankung bei einigen Patienten subtile Hirnschäden hinterlassen könnte, die sich erst in den kommenden Jahren bemerkbar machen.“
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- sbutil
- ssubtil
- subbtil
- subitl
- subtill
- subtli
- subttil
- sutbil
- usbtil
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of subtil - 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 "subtil"?
What does "subtil" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "subtil"?
How do you pronounce "subtil"?
What language does "subtil" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar German words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "subtil", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "subtil". Here's where to go from here.
- "subtil" maps to 4 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "subtile". View pair
- 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #25,336 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more German words in the "S" letter cohort. S–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.