Which to use
“attack” and “Attacke” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,835
- “attack” frequency rank
- #8,826
- “Attacke” frequency rank
- 29661
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | attack | Attacke |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Angriff, Attacke | (militärischer) Angriff |
Where the eye mixes attack and Attacke
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses attack with Attacke
A purely visual mix-up. attack ([əˈtæk]) and Attacke ([aˈtakə]) 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) - “attack” sits inside “Attacke”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
attack is recorded at frequency rank #20,835, classified as anoun, pronounced [əˈtæk]. Attacke is at rank #8,826, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈtakə].
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 29661, this pair ranks #1,762,625 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of attack vs Attacke
Shared letters: ackt. Private to "attack": -. Private to "Attacke": e.
"attack" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "Attacke" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "attack" for "Attacke" ever safe?
Which is more common, "attack" or "Attacke"?
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 "attack" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Attacke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,762,625 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "attack" and "Attacke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Altach vs attack". 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 #1,762,625 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.