Which to use
“heimlich” and “heimlicher” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,378
- “heimlich” frequency rank
- #44,678
- “heimlicher” frequency rank
- 50056
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heimlich | heimlicher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | im Verborgenen, ohne das Wissen anderer | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs heimlich |
Where the eye mixes heimlich and heimlicher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between heimlich and heimlicher
A purely visual mix-up. heimlich ([ˈhaɪ̯mlɪç]) and heimlicher ([ˈhaɪ̯mlɪçɐ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “heimlich” sits inside “heimlicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50056, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heimlich is recorded at frequency rank #5,378, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯mlɪç]. heimlicher is at rank #44,678, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯mlɪçɐ].
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 50056, this pair ranks #1,188,272 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of heimlich vs heimlicher
Shared letters: cehilm. Private to "heimlich": -. Private to "heimlicher": r.
"heimlich" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC · "heimlicher" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- heimlich ← ehimlich · heilmich · heimilch · heimlcih · heimlicch · heimlichh · heimlihc · heimllich
- heimlicher ← ehimlicher · heilmicher · heimilcher · heimlciher · heimliccher · heimlicehr · heimlicherr · heimlichher
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "heimlich" for "heimlicher" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "heimlich" or "heimlicher" show up more?
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 "heimlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "heimlicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,188,272 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heimlich" and "heimlicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heimlicher vs herzlicher". 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 #1,188,272 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.