HeckervsheiterConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#38,803
“Hecker” frequency rank
#17,323
“heiter” frequency rank
56126
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hecker heiter
Definition Person, die zu ihrem Broterwerb hackt, entweder als Fleischhacker oder auch als Arbeiter im Weinberg, Kleinlandwirt oder Winzer eine gute Stimmung oder gute Laune betreffend, lustig, humorvoll; innere Ausgeglichenheit haben

Where the eye mixes Hecker and heiter

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

6 ch
Hecker
6 ch
heiter

Look-alike desk: Hecker vs heiter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hecker is [ˈhɛkɐ] 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 56126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hecker is recorded at frequency rank #38,803, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛkɐ]. 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 56126, this pair ranks #952,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hecker vs heiter

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "Hecker": ck. Private to "heiter": it.

"Hecker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "heiter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Heckerehcker · hceker · heccker · hecekr · heckerr · heckker · heckre · hekcer
  • heiterehiter · heietr · heiterr · heitre · heitter · hetier · hheiter · hieter

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hecker" for "heiter" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hecker" is a noun and "heiter" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Hecker" 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 #38,803 for "Hecker". 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 "Hecker" 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 #952,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hecker" and "heiter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hecker 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 #952,432 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