Which to use
“näher” is an unknown and “naked” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,564
- “näher” frequency rank
- #31,190
- “naked” frequency rank
- 32754
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | näher | naked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Komparativ von nah | nackt, unbekleidet, bloß |
Where the eye mixes näher and naked
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. näher and naked follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: näher vs naked
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: näher is [ˈnɛːɐ] while naked is [ˈneɪkɪd]. 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 (unknown vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32754, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
näher is recorded at frequency rank #1,564, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈnɛːɐ]. naked is at rank #31,190, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈneɪkɪd].
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 32754, this pair ranks #1,700,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of näher vs naked
Shared letters: en. Private to "näher": hrä. Private to "naked": adk.
"näher" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "naked" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- naked ← anked · naekd · nakde · nakedd · nakked · nkaed · nnaked
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "näher" for "naked" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "näher" or "naked" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "näher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "naked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,700,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "näher" and "naked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagen vs naked". 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 #1,700,717 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.