Which to use
“Fessel” is a noun and “fesseln” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,884
- “Fessel” frequency rank
- #11,428
- “fesseln” frequency rank
- 60312
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Fessel | fesseln |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | meist bandförmiges Mittel zum Verschnüren und Festbinden von Personen | jemanden (an etwas) festbinden und damit bewegungsunfähig machen |
Where the eye mixes Fessel and fesseln
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Fessel runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against fesseln's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Fessel vs fesseln
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fessel is [ˈfɛsl̩] while fesseln is [ˈfɛsl̩n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Fessel” sits inside “fesseln”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Fessel is recorded at frequency rank #48,884, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛsl̩]. fesseln is at rank #11,428, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɛsl̩n].
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 60312, this pair ranks #791,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Fessel vs fesseln
Shared letters: efls. Private to "Fessel": -. Private to "fesseln": n.
"Fessel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fesseln" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Fessel" for "fesseln" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Fessel" or "fesseln"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Fessel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fesseln" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #791,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Fessel" and "fesseln" 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 #791,702 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.