UnterhaltvsUnterholzTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,192
“Unterhalt” frequency rank
#40,270
“Unterholz” frequency rank
50462
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Unterhalt Unterholz
Definition materielle Absicherung für Personen das unter den Kronen großer Bäume niedrig wachsende Gehölz

Where the eye mixes Unterhalt and Unterholz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Unterhalt and Unterholz follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
Unterhalt
9 ch
Unterholz

Why the eye confuses Unterhalt with Unterholz

A purely visual mix-up. Unterhalt ([ˈʊntɐˌhalt]) and Unterholz ([ˈʊntɐˌhɔlt͡s]) 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 50462, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Unterhalt is recorded at frequency rank #10,192, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌhalt]. Unterholz is at rank #40,270, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʊntɐˌhɔlt͡s].

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 50462, this pair ranks #1,172,806 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Unterhalt vs Unterholz

Shared letters: ehlnrtu. Private to "Unterhalt": a. Private to "Unterholz": oz.

"Unterhalt" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC  ·  "Unterholz" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Unterhalt ← nuterhalt · unetrhalt · unnterhalt · untehralt · unterahlt · unterhallt · unterhaltt · unterhatl
  • Unterholz ← nuterholz · unetrholz · unnterholz · untehrolz · unterhholz · unterhloz · unterhollz · unterholzz

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Unterhalt" and "Unterholz" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʊntɐˌhalt] versus [ˈʊntɐˌhɔlt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Unterhalt" vs "Unterholz" - which ranks higher?
"Unterhalt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,192 in our German list, against #40,270 for "Unterholz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Unterhalt" and "Unterholz" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Unterhalt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Unterholz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,172,806 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Unterhalt" and "Unterholz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Unterholz vs Unterhose". 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 #1,172,806 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