AliasvsAltarTell them apart

Which to use

“Alias” and “Altar” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,217
“Alias” frequency rank
#8,164
“Altar” frequency rank
18381
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Alias Altar
Definition Kriminalistik, Pseudonym (zum Beispiel im E-Mail-Verkehr oder Chats) tischähnliche Einrichtung (zum Beispiel in einer Kirche) zur Feier eines Gottesdienstes, zur kultischen Verehrung oder für das Abhalten von Ritualen

Where the eye mixes Alias and Altar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Alias
5 ch
Altar

Visual trap between Alias and Altar

A purely visual mix-up. Alias ([ˈaːli̯as]) and Altar ([alˈtaːɐ̯]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Alias is recorded at frequency rank #10,217, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaːli̯as]. Altar is at rank #8,164, tagged as anoun, pronounced [alˈtaːɐ̯].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 18381, this pair ranks #1,918,786 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Alias vs Altar

Shared letters: al. Private to "Alias": is. Private to "Altar": rt.

"Alias" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC  ·  "Altar" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Aliasailas · alais · aliass · alisa · allias · laias
  • Altaralatr · alltar · altarr · altra · alttar · atlar · latar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Alias" for "Altar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaːli̯as] versus [alˈtaːɐ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Alias" or "Altar" show up more?
"Altar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,164 in our German list, against #10,217 for "Alias". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Alias" and "Altar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Alias" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Altar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,918,786 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Alias" and "Altar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Alias vs avis". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,918,786 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list