Which to use
“heel” and “Herr” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,960
- “heel” frequency rank
- #489
- “Herr” frequency rank
- 49449
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heel | Herr |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der hintere Teil des Fußes unter dem Knöchel | höfliche Bezeichnung für einen Mann |
Where the eye mixes heel and Herr
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. heel (CVVC) and Herr (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: heel vs Herr
A purely visual mix-up. heel ([hiːl]) and Herr ([hɛʁ]) 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 49449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heel is recorded at frequency rank #48,960, classified as anoun, pronounced [hiːl]. Herr is at rank #489, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɛʁ].
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 49449, this pair ranks #1,211,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of heel vs Herr
Shared letters: eh. Private to "heel": l. Private to "Herr": r.
"heel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "Herr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "heel" and "Herr" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "heel" vs "Herr" - which ranks higher?
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 "heel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Herr" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,211,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heel" and "Herr" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel 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 #1,211,106 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.