HöllevsHolzWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,897
“Hölle” frequency rank
#1,925
“Holz” frequency rank
4822
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hölle Holz
Definition in vielen Religionen der Ort, an dem Menschen nach dem Tod ewig für ihre Sünden büßen müssen aus Zellulose und Lignin bestehende Masse eines Baumes

Where the eye mixes Hölle and Holz

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

5 ch
Hölle
4 ch
Holz

Look-alike desk: Hölle vs Holz

A purely visual mix-up. Hölle ([ˈhœlə]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4822, 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]. 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 4822, this pair ranks #1,996,572 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hölle vs Holz

Shared letters: hl. Private to "Hölle": . Private to "Holz": oz.

"Hölle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Holz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Holzhholz · hloz · hollz · holzz · hozl · ohlz

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hölle" for "Holz" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhœlə] versus [hɔlt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Hölle" or "Holz"?
"Holz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,925 in our German list, against #2,897 for "Hölle". 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 "Hölle" 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 #1,996,572 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hölle" and "Holz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hola vs Hölle". 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 #1,996,572 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