HockvsHolzWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,238
“Hock” frequency rank
#1,925
“Holz” frequency rank
37163
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hock Holz
Definition geselliges Beisammensein aus Zellulose und Lignin bestehende Masse eines Baumes

Where the eye mixes Hock and Holz

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

4 ch
Hock
4 ch
Holz

Visual trap between Hock and Holz

A purely visual mix-up. Hock ([hɔk]) and Holz ([hɔlt͡s]) 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 37163, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hock is recorded at frequency rank #35,238, classified as anoun, pronounced [hɔk]. Holz is at rank #1,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɔlt͡s].

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 37163, this pair ranks #1,597,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hock vs Holz

Shared letters: ho. Private to "Hock": ck. Private to "Holz": lz.

"Hock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Holz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hockhcok · hhock · hocck · hockk · hokc · ohck
  • Holzhholz · hloz · hollz · holzz · hozl · ohlz

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hock" and "Holz" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([hɔk] versus [hɔlt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Hock" or "Holz"?
"Holz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,925 in our German list, against #35,238 for "Hock". 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 "Hock" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Holz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,597,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hock" and "Holz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hock 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 #1,597,244 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