HöhevshöhereConfusable pair

Quick tell: Höhe is a noun, höhere is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Höhe” is a noun and “höhere” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#717
“Höhe” frequency rank
#1,890
“höhere” frequency rank
2607
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Höhe höhere
Definition die Dimension (Größe) nach oben Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Komparativs des Adjektivs hoch

Where the eye mixes Höhe and höhere

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Höhe runs 4 letters (CVCV) against höhere's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Höhe
6 ch
höhere

Look-alike desk: Höhe vs höhere

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Höhe is [ˈhøːə] while höhere is [ˈhøːəʁə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Höhe” sits inside “höhere”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Höhe is recorded at frequency rank #717, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhøːə]. höhere is at rank #1,890, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhøːəʁə].

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 2607, this pair ranks #2,001,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Höhe vs höhere

Shared letters: ehö. Private to "Höhe": -. Private to "höhere": r.

"Höhe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "höhere" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Höhe" for "höhere" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Höhe" is a noun and "höhere" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Höhe" or "höhere" show up more?
"Höhe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #717 in our German list, against #1,890 for "höhere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Höhe" and "höhere" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Höhe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "höhere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Höhe" and "höhere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hähne vs Höhe". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #2,001,974 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