HetzervsHölzerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#29,173
“Hetzer” frequency rank
#32,095
“Hölzer” frequency rank
61268
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hetzer Hölzer
Definition (männliche) Person, die in der Öffentlichkeit Hass gegen jemanden/etwas schürt, Stimmung gegen jemanden/etwas macht Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Holz

Where the eye mixes Hetzer and Hölzer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Hetzer
6 ch
Hölzer

Visual trap between Hetzer and Hölzer

A purely visual mix-up. Hetzer ([ˈhɛt͡sɐ]) and Hölzer ([ˈhœlt͡sɐ]) 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 61268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hetzer is recorded at frequency rank #29,173, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛt͡sɐ]. Hölzer is at rank #32,095, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhœlt͡sɐ].

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 61268, this pair ranks #756,109 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hetzer vs Hölzer

Shared letters: ehrz. Private to "Hetzer": t. Private to "Hölzer": .

"Hetzer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Hölzer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hetzerehtzer · hetezr · hettzer · hetzerr · hetzre · hetzzer · hezter · hhetzer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hetzer" for "Hölzer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɛt͡sɐ] versus [ˈhœlt͡sɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Hetzer" or "Hölzer"?
"Hetzer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,173 in our German list, against #32,095 for "Hölzer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hetzer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hölzer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #756,109 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hetzer" and "Hölzer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hemer vs Hetzer". 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 #756,109 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