Which to use
“Ferse” and “Fessel” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,767
- “Ferse” frequency rank
- #48,884
- “Fessel” frequency rank
- 84651
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ferse | Fessel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hinterer Teil des Fußes | meist bandförmiges Mittel zum Verschnüren und Festbinden von Personen |
Where the eye mixes Ferse and Fessel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Ferse runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Fessel's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Ferse vs Fessel
A purely visual mix-up. Ferse ([ˈfɛʁzə]) and Fessel ([ˈfɛsl̩]) 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 84651, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Ferse is recorded at frequency rank #35,767, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛʁzə]. Fessel is at rank #48,884, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛsl̩].
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 84651, this pair ranks #120,381 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Ferse vs Fessel
Shared letters: efs. Private to "Ferse": r. Private to "Fessel": l.
"Ferse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Fessel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Ferse" and "Fessel" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Ferse" vs "Fessel" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Ferse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Fessel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #120,381 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Ferse" and "Fessel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fessel vs fesselnd". 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 #120,381 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.