antikvsAntikeTell them apart

Quick tell: antik is a adjective, Antike is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“antik” is an adjective and “Antike” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,057
“antik” frequency rank
#6,388
“Antike” frequency rank
41445
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature antik Antike
Definition die Antike betreffend, zu ihr gehörend, aus ihr stammend die Zeit des klassischen griechisch-römischen Altertums von etwa 1200 v. Chr. bis 600 n. Chr.

Where the eye mixes antik and Antike

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. antik runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against Antike's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
antik
6 ch
Antike

Why the eye confuses antik with Antike

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: antik is [anˈtiːk] while Antike is [anˈtiːkə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “antik” sits inside “Antike”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

antik is recorded at frequency rank #35,057, classified as anadj, pronounced [anˈtiːk]. Antike is at rank #6,388, tagged as anoun, pronounced [anˈtiːkə].

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 41445, this pair ranks #1,479,181 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of antik vs Antike

Shared letters: aiknt. Private to "antik": -. Private to "Antike": e.

"antik" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "Antike" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • antik ← anitk · anntik · antikk · antki · anttik · atnik · natik
  • Antike ← anitke · anntike · antiek · antikke · antkie · anttike · atnike · natike

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "antik" and "Antike" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "antik" is an adjective and "Antike" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "antik" or "Antike"?
"Antike" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,388 in our German list, against #35,057 for "antik". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "antik" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Antike" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,479,181 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "antik" and "Antike" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "antik vs antikes". 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 #1,479,181 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