HeadervsheiterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Header is a noun, heiter is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Header” is a noun and “heiter” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,976
“Header” frequency rank
#17,323
“heiter” frequency rank
41299
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Header heiter
Definition Kopfzeile mit den Metadaten einer E-Mail, einer Datei oder Ähnlichem, zu der unter Umständen die Empfänger- und Absenderadresse und der Betreff gehören können eine gute Stimmung oder gute Laune betreffend, lustig, humorvoll; innere Ausgeglichenheit haben

Where the eye mixes Header and heiter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Header
6 ch
heiter

Visual trap between Header and heiter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Header is [ˈhɛdɐ] while heiter is [ˈhaɪ̯tɐ]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Header is recorded at frequency rank #23,976, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛdɐ]. heiter is at rank #17,323, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯tɐ].

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 41299, this pair ranks #1,483,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Header vs heiter

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "Header": ad. Private to "heiter": it.

"Header" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "heiter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Headerehader · haeder · headder · headerr · headre · heaedr · hedaer · hheader
  • heiterehiter · heietr · heiterr · heitre · heitter · hetier · hheiter · hieter

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Header" for "heiter" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Header" is a noun and "heiter" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Header" vs "heiter" - which ranks higher?
"heiter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,323 in our German list, against #23,976 for "Header". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Header" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "heiter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,483,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Header" and "heiter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Header 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 #1,483,583 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