HehlvsHöheConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,632
“Hehl” frequency rank
#717
“Höhe” frequency rank
34349
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hehl Höhe
Definition etwas verheimlichen, verbergen (meist verneint) die Dimension (Größe) nach oben

Where the eye mixes Hehl and Höhe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Hehl
4 ch
Höhe

Visual trap between Hehl and Höhe

A purely visual mix-up. Hehl ([heːl]) and Höhe ([ˈhøːə]) 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 34349, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hehl is recorded at frequency rank #33,632, classified as anoun, pronounced [heːl]. Höhe is at rank #717, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhøːə].

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 34349, this pair ranks #1,665,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hehl vs Höhe

Shared letters: eh. Private to "Hehl": l. Private to "Höhe": ö.

"Hehl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Höhe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hehlehhl · hehhl · hehll · helh · hhehl · hhel

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hehl" for "Höhe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([heːl] versus [ˈhøːə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Hehl" vs "Höhe" - which ranks higher?
"Höhe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #717 in our German list, against #33,632 for "Hehl". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hehl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Höhe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,665,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hehl" and "Höhe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs Hehl". 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 #1,665,331 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