NarbevsNässeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,079
“Narbe” frequency rank
#25,692
“Nässe” frequency rank
42771
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Narbe Nässe
Definition verheilende Wunde oder sichtbares Überbleibsel einer Wunde nasse Beschaffenheit (der Umgebung), starke Feuchtigkeit

Where the eye mixes Narbe and Nässe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Narbe
5 ch
Nässe

Why the eye confuses Narbe with Nässe

A purely visual mix-up. Narbe ([ˈnaʁbə]) and Nässe ([ˈnɛsə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Narbe is recorded at frequency rank #17,079, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnaʁbə]. Nässe is at rank #25,692, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɛsə].

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 42771, this pair ranks #1,438,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Narbe vs Nässe

Shared letters: en. Private to "Narbe": abr. Private to "Nässe": .

"Narbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Nässe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Narbeanrbe · nabre · narbbe · nareb · narrbe · nnarbe · nrabe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Narbe" and "Nässe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaʁbə] versus [ˈnɛsə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Narbe" or "Nässe" show up more?
"Narbe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,079 in our German list, against #25,692 for "Nässe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Narbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nässe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,438,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Narbe" and "Nässe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nässe vs nasses". 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 #1,438,972 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