Which to use
“Hagel” and “heel” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,284
- “Hagel” frequency rank
- #48,960
- “heel” frequency rank
- 69244
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hagel | heel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aus meist kleinen Eisklumpen bestehender Niederschlag | der hintere Teil des Fußes unter dem Knöchel |
Where the eye mixes Hagel and heel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Hagel runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against heel's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Hagel with heel
A purely visual mix-up. Hagel ([ˈhaːɡl̩]) and heel ([hiːl]) 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 69244, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hagel is recorded at frequency rank #20,284, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaːɡl̩]. heel is at rank #48,960, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hiːl].
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 69244, this pair ranks #482,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Hagel vs heel
Shared letters: ehl. Private to "Hagel": ag. Private to "heel": -.
"Hagel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "heel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Hagel" and "heel" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Hagel" vs "heel" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Hagel" and "heel" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Hagel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "heel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #482,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hagel" and "heel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs Hemer". 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 #482,535 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.