Which to use
“Herold” is a noun and “hold” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,981
- “Herold” frequency rank
- #15,655
- “hold” frequency rank
- 39636
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Herold | hold |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ausrufer, Bote eines Lehnsmannes im Mittelalter | sehr zart und hübsch |
Where the eye mixes Herold and hold
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Herold runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against hold's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Herold vs hold
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Herold is [ˈheːʁɔlt] while hold is [hɔlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Herold is recorded at frequency rank #23,981, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈheːʁɔlt]. hold is at rank #15,655, tagged as anadj, pronounced [hɔlt].
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 39636, this pair ranks #1,531,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Herold vs hold
Shared letters: dhlo. Private to "Herold": er. Private to "hold": -.
"Herold" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "hold" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Herold" and "hold" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Herold" or "hold"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Herold" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hold" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,531,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Herold" and "hold" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "höh vs hold". 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 #1,531,200 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.