brakevsBrokerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“brake” and “Broker” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,847
“brake” frequency rank
#16,108
“Broker” frequency rank
52955
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature brake Broker
Definition Vorrichtung, um ein Fahrzeug zu Verlangsamen oder zum Halten zu bringen Effektenhändler an der Börse, Wertpapierhändler

Where the eye mixes brake and Broker

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. brake runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against Broker's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
brake
6 ch
Broker

Look-alike desk: brake vs Broker

A purely visual mix-up. brake ([bɹeɪk]) and Broker ([ˈbʁoːkɐ]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52955, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

brake is recorded at frequency rank #36,847, classified as anoun, pronounced [bɹeɪk]. Broker is at rank #16,108, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbʁoːkɐ].

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 52955, this pair ranks #1,076,723 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of brake vs Broker

Shared letters: bekr. Private to "brake": a. Private to "Broker": o.

"brake" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Broker" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • brake ← barke · bbrake · brakke · brkae · brrake · rbake
  • Broker ← bbroker · borker · brkoer · broekr · brokerr · brokker · brokre · brroker

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "brake" for "Broker" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bɹeɪk] versus [ˈbʁoːkɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "brake" or "Broker"?
"Broker" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,108 in our German list, against #36,847 for "brake". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "brake" and "Broker" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "brake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Broker" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,076,723 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "brake" and "Broker" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brake vs bryce". 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 #1,076,723 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