Which to use
“mager” is an adjective and “Mäzen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,349
- “mager” frequency rank
- #42,696
- “Mäzen” frequency rank
- 64045
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mager | Mäzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dünn, dürr | vermögende Privatperson, die Kunst, Künstler oder künstlerische Tätigkeiten mit Geld unterstützt, ohne einen direkten Gegenwert zu erwarten; vergleichbar mit einem Sponsor |
Where the eye mixes mager and Mäzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mager and Mäzen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between mager and Mäzen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mager is [ˈmaːɡɐ] while Mäzen is [mɛˈt͡seːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64045, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mager is recorded at frequency rank #21,349, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmaːɡɐ]. Mäzen is at rank #42,696, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɛˈt͡seːn].
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 64045, this pair ranks #655,309 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mager vs Mäzen
Shared letters: em. Private to "mager": agr. Private to "Mäzen": nzä.
"mager" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Mäzen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mager ← amger · maegr · magerr · magger · magre · mgaer · mmager
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mager" for "Mäzen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mager" or "Mäzen"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mager" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Mäzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #655,309 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mager" and "Mäzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mailen vs Mäzen". 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 #655,309 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.