agovsAmokTell them apart

Quick tell: ago is a adverb, Amok is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ago” is an adverb and “Amok” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,897
“ago” frequency rank
#26,298
“Amok” frequency rank
59195
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ago Amok
Definition vor eine psychische Extremsituation, die durch Unzurechnungsfähigkeit und absolute Gewaltbereitschaft gekennzeichnet ist

Where the eye mixes ago and Amok

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ago runs 3 letters (VCV) against Amok's 4 (VCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
ago
4 ch
Amok

Look-alike desk: ago vs Amok

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ago is [əˈɡəʊ] while Amok is [ˈaːmɔk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59195, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ago is recorded at frequency rank #32,897, classified as anadv, pronounced [əˈɡəʊ]. Amok is at rank #26,298, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaːmɔk].

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 59195, this pair ranks #833,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ago vs Amok

Shared letters: ao. Private to "ago": g. Private to "Amok": km.

"ago" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "Amok" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Amok ← amko · ammok · amokk · aomk · maok

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ago" for "Amok" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ago" is an adverb and "Amok" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ago" or "Amok"?
"Amok" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,298 in our German list, against #32,897 for "ago". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Amok" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #833,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ago" and "Amok" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ago vs AUD". 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 #833,690 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