Which to use
“Held” and “hells” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,618
- “Held” frequency rank
- #34,160
- “hells” frequency rank
- 38778
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Held | hells |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemand, der sich besonders mutig oder erfolgreich für andere oder für eine Sache einsetzt oder bei einem Einsatz umkommt | Plural des Substantivs hell |
Where the eye mixes Held and hells
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Held vs hells
A purely visual mix-up. Held ([hɛlt]) and hells ([hɛlz]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38778, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Held is recorded at frequency rank #4,618, classified as anoun, pronounced [hɛlt]. hells is at rank #34,160, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɛlz].
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 38778, this pair ranks #1,554,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Held vs hells
Shared letters: ehl. Private to "Held": d. Private to "hells": s.
"Held" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hells" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Held" for "hells" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Held" vs "hells" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Held" and "hells" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Held" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hells" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,554,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Held" and "hells" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs hells". 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 #1,554,857 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.