MadenvsmazeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#31,673
“Maden” frequency rank
#44,065
“maze” frequency rank
75738
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Maden maze
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Made Irrgarten oder ein Gewirr wie ein Irrgarten

Where the eye mixes Maden and maze

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Maden
4 ch
maze

Why the eye confuses Maden with maze

A purely visual mix-up. Maden ([ˈmaːdn̩]) and maze ([meɪz]) 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 75738, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Maden is recorded at frequency rank #31,673, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaːdn̩]. maze is at rank #44,065, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meɪz].

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 75738, this pair ranks #300,586 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Maden vs maze

Shared letters: aem. Private to "Maden": dn. Private to "maze": z.

"Maden" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "maze" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Madenamden · madden · madenn · madne · maedn · mdaen · mmaden
  • mazeamze · maez · mazze · mmaze · mzae

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Maden" and "maze" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaːdn̩] versus [meɪz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Maden" vs "maze" - which ranks higher?
"Maden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,673 in our German list, against #44,065 for "maze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Maden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "maze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #300,586 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Maden" and "maze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Matze vs maze". 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 #300,586 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