mazevsMüheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#44,065
“maze” frequency rank
#2,352
“Mühe” frequency rank
46417
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maze Mühe
Definition Irrgarten oder ein Gewirr wie ein Irrgarten körperliche oder geistige Anstrengung

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maze and Mühe apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
maze
4 ch
Mühe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. maze ([meɪz]) and Mühe ([ˈmyːə]) 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 46417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maze is recorded at frequency rank #44,065, classified as anoun, pronounced [meɪz]. Mühe is at rank #2,352, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmyːə].

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 46417, this pair ranks #1,319,825 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maze vs Mühe

Shared letters: em. Private to "maze": az. Private to "Mühe": .

"maze" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Mühe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mazeamze · maez · mazze · mmaze · mzae

Frequency comparison

maze#44,065
Mühe#2,352

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maze" and "Mühe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([meɪz] versus [ˈmyːə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maze" or "Mühe"?
"Mühe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,352 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.

Remembering maze vs Mühe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maze” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list