HeimevsHeimwehConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,105
“Heime” frequency rank
#23,559
“Heimweh” frequency rank
56664
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Heime Heimweh
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Heim Sehnsucht nach der Heimat

Where the eye mixes Heime and Heimweh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Heime runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against Heimweh's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Heime
7 ch
Heimweh

Why the eye confuses Heime with Heimweh

A purely visual mix-up. Heime ([ˈhaɪ̯mə]) and Heimweh ([ˈhaɪ̯mˌveː]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56664, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Heime is recorded at frequency rank #33,105, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯mə]. Heimweh is at rank #23,559, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯mˌveː].

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 56664, this pair ranks #931,501 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Heime vs Heimweh

Shared letters: ehim. Private to "Heime": -. Private to "Heimweh": w.

"Heime" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Heimweh" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Heime ← ehime · heiem · heimme · hemie · hheime · hieme
  • Heimweh ← ehimweh · heimewh · heimmweh · heimwehh · heimwhe · heimwweh · heiwmeh · hemiweh

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Heime" and "Heimweh" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaɪ̯mə] versus [ˈhaɪ̯mˌveː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Heime" or "Heimweh"?
"Heimweh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,559 in our German list, against #33,105 for "Heime". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Heime" and "Heimweh" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Heime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Heimweh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #931,501 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Heime" and "Heimweh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Heime 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 #931,501 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