MassevsmazeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,815
“Masse” frequency rank
#44,065
“maze” frequency rank
45880
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Masse maze
Definition die Ursache, dass der Materie Trägheit und Schwere (Gravitation) eigen sind; nach der Relativitätstheorie mit Kraft (Energie) gleichwertig (äquivalent) Irrgarten oder ein Gewirr wie ein Irrgarten

Where the eye mixes Masse and maze

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Masse runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against maze's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Masse
4 ch
maze

Visual trap between Masse and maze

A purely visual mix-up. Masse ([ˈmasə]) 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 45880, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Masse is recorded at frequency rank #1,815, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmasə]. 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 45880, this pair ranks #1,337,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Masse vs maze

Shared letters: aem. Private to "Masse": s. Private to "maze": z.

"Masse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "maze" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Masse ← amsse · mase · mases · maße · mmasse · msase
  • maze ← amze · maez · mazze · mmaze · mzae

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Masse" and "maze" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmasə] versus [meɪz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Masse" or "maze" show up more?
"Masse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,815 in our German list, against #44,065 for "maze". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Masse" 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 #1,337,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Masse" 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 #1,337,998 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