highvshochConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,301
“high” frequency rank
#451
“hoch” frequency rank
2752
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature high hoch
Definition von Drogen/Rauschgift berauscht weit oben befindlich

Where the eye mixes high and hoch

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

4 ch
high
4 ch
hoch

Why the eye confuses high with hoch

A purely visual mix-up. high ([haɪ̯]) and hoch ([hoːx]) 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 2752, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

high is recorded at frequency rank #2,301, classified as anadj, pronounced [haɪ̯]. hoch is at rank #451, tagged as anadj, pronounced [hoːx].

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 2752, this pair ranks #2,001,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of high vs hoch

Shared letters: h. Private to "high": gi. Private to "hoch": co.

"high" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "hoch" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • highhgih · hhigh · higgh · highh · hihg · ihgh
  • hochhcoh · hhoch · hocch · hochh · hohc · ohch

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "high" and "hoch" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([haɪ̯] versus [hoːx]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "high" or "hoch"?
"hoch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #451 in our German list, against #2,301 for "high". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "high" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hoch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "high" and "hoch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "high vs höh". 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 #2,001,663 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