hässlichenvshäuslicheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,915
“hässlichen” frequency rank
#19,611
“häusliche” frequency rank
35526
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hässlichen häusliche
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs hässlich Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs häuslich

Where the eye mixes hässlichen and häusliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. hässlichen runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCCVC) against häusliche's 9 (CVVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
hässlichen
9 ch
häusliche

Why the eye confuses hässlichen with häusliche

A purely visual mix-up. hässlichen ([ˈhɛslɪçn̩]) and häusliche ([ˈhɔɪ̯slɪçə]) 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 35526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hässlichen is recorded at frequency rank #15,915, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɛslɪçn̩]. häusliche is at rank #19,611, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɔɪ̯slɪçə].

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 35526, this pair ranks #1,637,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hässlichen vs häusliche

Shared letters: cehilsä. Private to "hässlichen": n. Private to "häusliche": u.

"hässlichen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC  ·  "häusliche" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hässlichen" and "häusliche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɛslɪçn̩] versus [ˈhɔɪ̯slɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hässlichen" or "häusliche"?
"hässlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,915 in our German list, against #19,611 for "häusliche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "hässlichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "häusliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,637,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hässlichen" and "häusliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hässliches vs häusliche". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,637,877 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