homophobvshomophobeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,092
“homophob” frequency rank
#39,428
“homophobe” frequency rank
71520
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature homophob homophobe
Definition Ablehnung gegenüber Homosexualität empfindend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs homophob

Where the eye mixes homophob and homophobe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. homophob runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against homophobe's 9 (CVCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
homophob
9 ch
homophobe

Why the eye confuses homophob with homophobe

A purely visual mix-up. homophob ([homoˈfoːp]) and homophobe ([homoˈfoːbə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “homophob” sits inside “homophobe”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

homophob is recorded at frequency rank #32,092, classified as anadj, pronounced [homoˈfoːp]. homophobe is at rank #39,428, tagged as anadj, pronounced [homoˈfoːbə].

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 71520, this pair ranks #414,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of homophob vs homophobe

Shared letters: bhmop. Private to "homophob": -. Private to "homophobe": e.

"homophob" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "homophobe" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • homophobhhomophob · hmoophob · hommophob · homohpob · homophbo · homophhob · homophobb · homopohb
  • homophobehhomophobe · hmoophobe · hommophobe · homohpobe · homophboe · homophhobe · homophobbe · homophoeb

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "homophob" and "homophobe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([homoˈfoːp] versus [homoˈfoːbə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "homophob" or "homophobe"?
"homophob" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,092 in our German list, against #39,428 for "homophobe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "homophob" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "homophobe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #414,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "homophob" and "homophobe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "homophobe vs homophoben". 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 #414,408 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