Which to use
“harbor” and “Harzer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,107
- “harbor” frequency rank
- #30,110
- “Harzer” frequency rank
- 60217
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | harbor | Harzer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hafen | jemand, der im Harz wohnt, der im Harz geboren ist, von dort stammt |
Where the eye mixes harbor and Harzer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: harbor vs Harzer
A purely visual mix-up. harbor ([ˈhɑrbər]) and Harzer ([ˈhaːɐ̯t͡sɐ]) 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 60217, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
harbor is recorded at frequency rank #30,107, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɑrbər]. Harzer is at rank #30,110, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaːɐ̯t͡sɐ].
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 60217, this pair ranks #795,301 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of harbor vs Harzer
Shared letters: ahr. Private to "harbor": bo. Private to "Harzer": ez.
"harbor" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Harzer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "harbor" for "Harzer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "harbor" or "Harzer"?
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 "harbor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Harzer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #795,301 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "harbor" and "Harzer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Harzer 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 #795,301 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.