FechtervsFrachterTell them apart

Which to use

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

#40,528
“Fechter” frequency rank
#29,129
“Frachter” frequency rank
69657
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fechter Frachter
Definition Sportler, der das Fechten ausübt auf den Gütertransport ausgelegtes Schiff

Where the eye mixes Fechter and Frachter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Fechter runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against Frachter's 8 (CCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Fechter
8 ch
Frachter

Why the eye confuses Fechter with Frachter

A purely visual mix-up. Fechter ([ˈfɛçtɐ]) and Frachter ([ˈfʁaxtɐ]) 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 69657, 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]. Frachter is at rank #29,129, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁaxtɐ].

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 69657, this pair ranks #469,881 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Fechter vs Frachter

Shared letters: cefhrt. Private to "Fechter": -. Private to "Frachter": a.

"Fechter" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Frachter" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fechter ← efchter · fcehter · fecchter · fechetr · fechhter · fechterr · fechtre · fechtter
  • Frachter ← farchter · ffrachter · fracchter · frachetr · frachhter · frachterr · frachtre · frachtter

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Fechter" and "Frachter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɛçtɐ] versus [ˈfʁaxtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Fechter" or "Frachter" show up more?
"Frachter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,129 in our German list, against #40,528 for "Fechter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fechter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Frachter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #469,881 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fechter" and "Frachter" 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 #469,881 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