HengstvsHengsteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,571
“Hengst” frequency rank
#48,963
“Hengste” frequency rank
67534
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hengst Hengste
Definition unverschnittenes männliches Tier bei Pferd, Esel, Dromedar, Kamel und Zebra; auch in Bezug auf Giraffen kommt der Begriff „Hengst“ (Giraffenhengst) gelegentlich vor (anstatt Giraffenbulle) Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Hengst

Where the eye mixes Hengst and Hengste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Hengst runs 6 letters (CVCCCC) against Hengste's 7 (CVCCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Hengst
7 ch
Hengste

Look-alike desk: Hengst vs Hengste

A purely visual mix-up. Hengst ([hɛŋst]) and Hengste ([ˈhɛŋstə]) 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) - “Hengst” sits inside “Hengste”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hengst is recorded at frequency rank #18,571, classified as anoun, pronounced [hɛŋst]. Hengste is at rank #48,963, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛŋstə].

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 67534, this pair ranks #537,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hengst vs Hengste

Shared letters: eghnst. Private to "Hengst": -. Private to "Hengste": -.

"Hengst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "Hengste" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hengst ← ehngst · hegnst · henggst · hengsst · hengstt · hengts · henngst · hensgt
  • Hengste ← ehngste · hegnste · henggste · hengset · hengsste · hengstte · hengtse · henngste

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Hengst" and "Hengste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([hɛŋst] versus [ˈhɛŋstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Hengst" or "Hengste" show up more?
"Hengst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,571 in our German list, against #48,963 for "Hengste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hengst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hengste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #537,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hengst" and "Hengste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hegte vs Hengste". 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 #537,056 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