Which to use
“heel” and “Hügel” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,960
- “heel” frequency rank
- #6,205
- “Hügel” frequency rank
- 55165
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heel | Hügel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der hintere Teil des Fußes unter dem Knöchel | Erhebung auf der Erdoberfläche unter etwa 300 Meter Höhe, meist von gerundeter Form |
Where the eye mixes heel and Hügel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. heel runs 4 letters (CVVC) against Hügel's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between heel and Hügel
A purely visual mix-up. heel ([hiːl]) and Hügel ([ˈhyːɡl̩]) 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 55165, 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]. Hügel is at rank #6,205, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhyːɡl̩].
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 55165, this pair ranks #990,238 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of heel vs Hügel
Shared letters: ehl. Private to "heel": -. Private to "Hügel": gü.
"heel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "Hügel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- heel ← ehel · heell · hheel
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "heel" for "Hügel" ever safe?
Frequency check: "heel" vs "Hügel" - which ranks higher?
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 "heel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Hügel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #990,238 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heel" and "Hügel" 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 #990,238 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.