Which to use
“zäher” and “zahm” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,351
- “zäher” frequency rank
- #43,648
- “zahm” frequency rank
- 83999
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | zäher | zahm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh | an den Kontakt mit Menschen gewöhnt, friedlich gegenüber Menschen, dem Menschen trauend |
Where the eye mixes zäher and zahm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. zäher runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against zahm's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between zäher and zahm
A purely visual mix-up. zäher ([ˈt͡sɛːɐ]) and zahm ([t͡saːm]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83999, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
zäher is recorded at frequency rank #40,351, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛːɐ]. zahm is at rank #43,648, tagged as anadj, pronounced [t͡saːm].
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 83999, this pair ranks #130,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of zäher vs zahm
Shared letters: hz. Private to "zäher": erä. Private to "zahm": am.
"zäher" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "zahm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- zahm ← azhm · zahhm · zahmm · zamh · zham · zzahm
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "zäher" and "zahm" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "zäher" vs "zahm" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "zäher" and "zahm" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "zäher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "zahm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #130,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "zäher" and "zahm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zahm vs zapf". 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 #130,747 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.