Which to use
“Held” and “Herold” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,618
- “Held” frequency rank
- #23,981
- “Herold” frequency rank
- 28599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Held | Herold |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemand, der sich besonders mutig oder erfolgreich für andere oder für eine Sache einsetzt oder bei einem Einsatz umkommt | Ausrufer, Bote eines Lehnsmannes im Mittelalter |
Where the eye mixes Held and Herold
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Held runs 4 letters (CVCC) against Herold's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Held and Herold
A purely visual mix-up. Held ([hɛlt]) and Herold ([ˈheːʁɔlt]) 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 28599, 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]. Herold is at rank #23,981, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈheːʁɔlt].
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 28599, this pair ranks #1,781,897 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Held vs Herold
Shared letters: dehl. Private to "Held": -. Private to "Herold": or.
"Held" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Herold" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Held" for "Herold" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Held" or "Herold" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Held" and "Herold" 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 "Herold" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,781,897 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Held" and "Herold" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs Held". 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 #1,781,897 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.