Which to use
“Hummel” and “Hummer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,615
- “Hummel” frequency rank
- #28,252
- “Hummer” frequency rank
- 45867
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hummel | Hummer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vertreter einer Gattung aus der Familie der Echte Bienen mit plumpem, rundlichem Körper und einem pelzigen, häufig bunten Haarkleid (Bombus) | großer, langgestreckter, gepanzerter, zehnfüßiger Krebs mit gewaltigen Scheren an europäischen und nordamerikanischen Küsten |
Where the eye mixes Hummel and Hummer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Hummel and Hummer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Hummel and Hummer
A purely visual mix-up. Hummel ([ˈhʊml̩]) and Hummer ([ˈhʊmɐ]) 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 a single letter - l in “Hummel” becomes r in “Hummer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45867, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hummel is recorded at frequency rank #17,615, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʊml̩]. Hummer is at rank #28,252, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʊmɐ].
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 45867, this pair ranks #1,338,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Hummel vs Hummer
Shared letters: ehmu. Private to "Hummel": l. Private to "Hummer": r.
"Hummel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Hummer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Hummel" for "Hummer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Hummel" vs "Hummer" - which ranks higher?
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 "Hummel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Hummer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,338,478 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hummel" and "Hummer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hemer vs Hummer". 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 #1,338,478 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.