heitervsheitereWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,323
“heiter” frequency rank
#23,172
“heitere” frequency rank
40495
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature heiter heitere
Definition eine gute Stimmung oder gute Laune betreffend, lustig, humorvoll; innere Ausgeglichenheit haben Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs heiter

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set heiter and heitere apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
heiter
7 ch
heitere

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. heiter ([ˈhaɪ̯tɐ]) and heitere ([ˈhaɪ̯təʁə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “heiter” sits inside “heitere”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

heiter is recorded at frequency rank #17,323, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯tɐ]. heitere is at rank #23,172, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯təʁə].

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 40495, this pair ranks #1,506,798 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of heiter vs heitere

Shared letters: ehirt. Private to "heiter": -. Private to "heitere": -.

"heiter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "heitere" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • heiterehiter · heietr · heiterr · heitre · heitter · hetier · hheiter · hieter
  • heitereehitere · heietre · heiteer · heiterre · heitree · heittere · hetiere · hheitere

Frequency comparison

heiter#17,323
heitere#23,172

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "heiter" and "heitere" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhaɪ̯tɐ] versus [ˈhaɪ̯təʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "heiter" or "heitere"?
"heiter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,323 in our German list, against #23,172 for "heitere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering heiter vs heitere

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “heiter” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list