keepervsKetzerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,596
“keeper” frequency rank
#30,144
“Ketzer” frequency rank
48740
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature keeper Ketzer
Definition Kurzform für goal keeper/ der Torhüter jemand, der kirchliche Dogmen und Glaubenslehren ablehnt und/oder öffentlich kritisiert

Where the eye mixes keeper and Ketzer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
keeper
6 ch
Ketzer

Look-alike desk: keeper vs Ketzer

A purely visual mix-up. keeper ([ˈkiːpəʳ]) and Ketzer ([ˈkɛt͡sɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

keeper is recorded at frequency rank #18,596, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkiːpəʳ]. Ketzer is at rank #30,144, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛt͡sɐ].

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 48740, this pair ranks #1,237,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of keeper vs Ketzer

Shared letters: ekr. Private to "keeper": p. Private to "Ketzer": tz.

"keeper" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Ketzer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • keeperekeper · keeepr · keeperr · keepper · keepre · kepeer · keper · kkeeper
  • Ketzerektzer · ketezr · kettzer · ketzerr · ketzre · ketzzer · kezter · kketzer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "keeper" for "Ketzer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkiːpəʳ] versus [ˈkɛt͡sɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "keeper" or "Ketzer" show up more?
"keeper" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,596 in our German list, against #30,144 for "Ketzer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "keeper" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ketzer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,237,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "keeper" and "Ketzer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ketzer vs Kutter". 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 #1,237,439 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