Which to use
“Hölle” is a noun and “hollow” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,897
- “Hölle” frequency rank
- #37,571
- “hollow” frequency rank
- 40468
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hölle | hollow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in vielen Religionen der Ort, an dem Menschen nach dem Tod ewig für ihre Sünden büßen müssen | hohl, ausgehöhlt |
Where the eye mixes Hölle and hollow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Hölle runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against hollow's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Hölle and hollow
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hölle is [ˈhœlə] while hollow is [ˈhɒləʊ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40468, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hölle is recorded at frequency rank #2,897, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhœlə]. hollow is at rank #37,571, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈhɒləʊ].
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 40468, this pair ranks #1,507,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Hölle vs hollow
Shared letters: hl. Private to "Hölle": eö. Private to "hollow": ow.
"Hölle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "hollow" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hollow ← hhollow · hlolow · holloww · hollwo · hololw · holow · ohllow
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Hölle" and "hollow" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Hölle" or "hollow" show up more?
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 "Hölle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hollow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,507,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hölle" and "hollow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hollow vs Holly". 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 #1,507,611 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.