zähe

[ˈt͡sɛːə]

/[ˈt͡sɛːə]/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“zähe” has 5 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #44,398. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#44,398
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh

Corpus desk

Index DE-zahe · zähe · German

zähe · rank #44,398 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #44,398
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH Zwiespalt

Nearest frequency peer: Zwiespalt (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „zähe“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „zähe“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

zähe vs ze
50% similar
zähe vs ZH
0% similar
zähe vs Zeh
25% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for zähe
PropertyValue
Headwordzähe
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˈt͡sɛːə]
Letters4
Frequency rank#44,398
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „zähe“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).zäheliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Zwiespalt“ (#44,397), „änderst“ (#44,399), „ätherische“ (#44,400). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „zähe“ bei #44,398. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around zähe (IPA [ˈt͡sɛːə]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #44,398 among 1,996 “Z” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for zähe, with forms such as "zhäe", "zzähe", and "zäeh". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ze", "ZH", "Zeh", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is zähe, spelled Z-Ä-H-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh
  2. 2
    Akkusativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh
  3. 3
    Nominativ Plural alle Genera der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh
  4. 4
    Akkusativ Plural alle Genera der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh
  5. 5
    Nominativ Singular alle Genera der schwachen Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh
  6. 6
    Akkusativ Singular Femininum der schwachen Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh
  7. 7
    Akkusativ Singular Neutrum der schwachen Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh
  8. 8
    Nominativ Singular Femininum der gemischten Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh
  9. 9
    Akkusativ Singular Femininum der gemischten Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • zhäe
  • zzähe
  • zäeh
  • zähhe
  • äzhe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of zähe - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

zhäe2zzähe1zäeh2zähhe1äzhe2
Edit distance from "zähe"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "zähe"?
"zähe" is spelled Z-Ä-H-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡sɛːə].
What does "zähe" mean?
As an adjective, "zähe" means: Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs zäh
What words are commonly confused with "zähe"?
"zähe" is commonly confused with "ze", "ZH", "Zeh". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "zähe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zähe" is [ˈt͡sɛːə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zähe" come from?
"zähe" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "zähe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Aden#44,419wash#44,357apis#44,445vibe#44,340

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

aggro5 variantscapo5 variantsdéjà5 variantsSilo5 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list