Which to use
“zähe” and “zäher” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,398
- “zähe” frequency rank
- #40,351
- “zäher” frequency rank
- 84749
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zähe | zäher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh |
Where the eye mixes zähe and zäher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. zähe runs 4 letters (CVCV) against zäher's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses zähe with zäher
A purely visual mix-up. zähe ([ˈt͡sɛːə]) and zäher ([ˈt͡sɛːɐ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “zähe” sits inside “zäher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zähe is recorded at frequency rank #44,398, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛːə]. zäher is at rank #40,351, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛːɐ].
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 84749, this pair ranks #118,870 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of zähe vs zäher
Shared letters: ehzä. Private to "zähe": -. Private to "zäher": r.
"zähe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "zäher" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "zähe" and "zäher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "zähe" or "zäher" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "zähe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zäher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #118,870 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zähe" and "zäher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zähe vs zapf". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #118,870 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.