Which to use
“blicken” is a verb and “Blinker” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,068
- “blicken” frequency rank
- #29,969
- “Blinker” frequency rank
- 35037
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | blicken | Blinker |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | seinen Blick auf jemanden/etwas wenden und es bewusst wahrnehmen | Teil der Lichtanlage in Kraftfahrzeugen; zeigt die Richtung an, in die man abbiegen möchte |
Where the eye mixes blicken and Blinker
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses blicken with Blinker
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: blicken is [ˈblɪkn̩] while Blinker is [ˈblɪŋkɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
blicken is recorded at frequency rank #5,068, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈblɪkn̩]. Blinker is at rank #29,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈblɪŋkɐ].
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 35037, this pair ranks #1,649,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of blicken vs Blinker
Shared letters: beikln. Private to "blicken": c. Private to "Blinker": r.
"blicken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "Blinker" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "blicken" and "Blinker" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "blicken" or "Blinker"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "blicken" and "Blinker" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "blicken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Blinker" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,649,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "blicken" and "Blinker" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Blinker vs blonder". 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 #1,649,543 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.