gefeitvsgeheimTell them apart

Quick tell: gefeit is a verb, geheim is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gefeit” is a verb and “geheim” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,672
“gefeit” frequency rank
#8,373
“geheim” frequency rank
55045
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefeit geheim
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs feien nicht für jedermann erkennbar

Where the eye mixes gefeit and geheim

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gefeit and geheim follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
gefeit
6 ch
geheim

Why the eye confuses gefeit with geheim

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefeit is [ɡəˈfaɪ̯t] while geheim is [ɡəˈhaɪ̯m]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55045, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefeit is recorded at frequency rank #46,672, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfaɪ̯t]. geheim is at rank #8,373, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhaɪ̯m].

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 55045, this pair ranks #994,879 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gefeit vs geheim

Shared letters: egi. Private to "gefeit": ft. Private to "geheim": hm.

"gefeit" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "geheim" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gefeit ← egfeit · geefit · gefeitt · gefeti · geffeit · gefiet · gfeeit · ggefeit
  • geheim ← egheim · geehim · geheimm · gehemi · gehheim · gehiem · ggeheim · gheeim

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gefeit" and "geheim" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gefeit" is a verb and "geheim" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gefeit" vs "geheim" - which ranks higher?
"geheim" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,373 in our German list, against #46,672 for "gefeit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gefeit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geheim" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #994,879 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefeit" and "geheim" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefeit vs Geweih". 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 #994,879 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