Which to use
“heiklen” is an adjective and “heilen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,882
- “heiklen” frequency rank
- #7,930
- “heilen” frequency rank
- 49812
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heiklen | heilen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs heikel | jemanden gesund machen, eine Krankheit, ein Leiden beseitigen, heil machen |
Where the eye mixes heiklen and heilen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. heiklen runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against heilen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between heiklen and heilen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: heiklen is [ˈhaɪ̯klən] while heilen is [ˈhaɪ̯lən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heiklen is recorded at frequency rank #41,882, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯klən]. heilen is at rank #7,930, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯lən].
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 49812, this pair ranks #1,197,450 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of heiklen vs heilen
Shared letters: ehiln. Private to "heiklen": k. Private to "heilen": -.
"heiklen" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "heilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "heiklen" and "heilen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "heiklen" or "heilen"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "heiklen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "heilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,197,450 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heiklen" and "heilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heckler vs heiklen". 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 #1,197,450 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.