FechtervsFehlerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,528
“Fechter” frequency rank
#746
“Fehler” frequency rank
41274
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fechter Fehler
Definition Sportler, der das Fechten ausübt Abweichung von einem optimalen Zustand, Verfahren oder dem Richtigen

Where the eye mixes Fechter and Fehler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Fechter
6 ch
Fehler

Look-alike desk: Fechter vs Fehler

A purely visual mix-up. Fechter ([ˈfɛçtɐ]) and Fehler ([ˈfeːlɐ]) 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 41274, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fechter is recorded at frequency rank #40,528, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛçtɐ]. Fehler is at rank #746, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːlɐ].

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 41274, this pair ranks #1,484,293 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Fechter vs Fehler

Shared letters: efhr. Private to "Fechter": ct. Private to "Fehler": l.

"Fechter" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Fehler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fechterefchter · fcehter · fecchter · fechetr · fechhter · fechterr · fechtre · fechtter
  • Fehlerefhler · fehelr · fehhler · fehlerr · fehller · fehlre · felher · ffehler

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Fechter" and "Fehler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɛçtɐ] versus [ˈfeːlɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Fechter" or "Fehler" show up more?
"Fehler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #746 in our German list, against #40,528 for "Fechter". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fechter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Fehler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,484,293 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fechter" and "Fehler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fechter vs frecher". 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 #1,484,293 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