HaienvsHexenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,794
“Haien” frequency rank
#11,895
“Hexen” frequency rank
50689
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Haien Hexen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Hai ein Alken mit sechs Kohlenstoffatomen und zwölf Wasserstoffatomen

Where the eye mixes Haien and Hexen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Haien
5 ch
Hexen

Why the eye confuses Haien with Hexen

A purely visual mix-up. Haien ([ˈhaɪ̯ən]) and Hexen ([hɛˈkseːn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Haien is recorded at frequency rank #38,794, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯ən]. Hexen is at rank #11,895, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɛˈkseːn].

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 50689, this pair ranks #1,164,254 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Haien vs Hexen

Shared letters: ehn. Private to "Haien": ai. Private to "Hexen": x.

"Haien" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "Hexen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Haienahien · haein · haienn · haine · hhaien · hiaen
  • Hexenehxen · heexn · hexenn · hexne · hexxen · hhexen · hxeen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Haien" for "Hexen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaɪ̯ən] versus [hɛˈkseːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Haien" or "Hexen"?
"Hexen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,895 in our German list, against #38,794 for "Haien". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Haien" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hexen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,164,254 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Haien" and "Hexen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Haien vs haze". 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 #1,164,254 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