HerrvsHureTell them apart

Which to use

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

#489
“Herr” frequency rank
#8,882
“Hure” frequency rank
9371
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Herr Hure
Definition höfliche Bezeichnung für einen Mann Frau, die für Geld sexuelle Handlungen vornimmt; Prostituierte

Where the eye mixes Herr and Hure

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Herr
4 ch
Hure

Why the eye confuses Herr with Hure

A purely visual mix-up. Herr ([hɛʁ]) and Hure ([ˈhuːʁə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Herr is recorded at frequency rank #489, classified as anoun, pronounced [hɛʁ]. Hure is at rank #8,882, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhuːʁə].

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 9371, this pair ranks #1,980,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Herr vs Hure

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "Herr": -. Private to "Hure": u.

"Herr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Hure" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Herrehrr · hherr · hrer
  • Hurehhure · hrue · huer · hurre · uhre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Herr" and "Hure" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([hɛʁ] versus [ˈhuːʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Herr" vs "Hure" - which ranks higher?
"Herr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #489 in our German list, against #8,882 for "Hure". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Herr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,980,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Herr" and "Hure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "haze vs Hure". 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 #1,980,270 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