Which to use
“blade” and “blank” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,552
- “blade” frequency rank
- #12,878
- “blank” frequency rank
- 34430
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | blade | blank |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs blad | (metallisch) hell schimmernd |
Where the eye mixes blade and blank
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between blade and blank
A purely visual mix-up. blade ([ˈblaːdə]) and blank ([blaŋk]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
blade is recorded at frequency rank #21,552, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈblaːdə]. blank is at rank #12,878, tagged as anadj, pronounced [blaŋk].
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 34430, this pair ranks #1,663,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of blade vs blank
Shared letters: abl. Private to "blade": de. Private to "blank": kn.
"blade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "blank" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "blade" for "blank" ever safe?
Which is more common, "blade" or "blank"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "blade" and "blank" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "blade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "blank" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,663,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "blade" and "blank" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "blade vs Blazer". 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 #1,663,510 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.