Which to use
“cher” and “chief” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,929
- “cher” frequency rank
- #11,202
- “chief” frequency rank
- 33131
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cher | chief |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | teuer, hold, lieb, wert | die meiste Wichtigkeit besitzend |
Where the eye mixes cher and chief
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cher vs chief
A purely visual mix-up. cher ([ʃɛʁ]) and chief ([tʃiːf]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cher is recorded at frequency rank #21,929, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃɛʁ]. chief is at rank #11,202, tagged as anadj, pronounced [tʃiːf].
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 33131, this pair ranks #1,692,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cher vs chief
Shared letters: ceh. Private to "cher": r. Private to "chief": fi.
"cher" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "chief" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cher" and "chief" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "cher" or "chief" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chief" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,692,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cher" and "chief" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carr vs cher". 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 #1,692,631 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.