BunkervsBurkeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,838
“Bunker” frequency rank
#23,070
“Burke” frequency rank
34908
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bunker Burke
Definition bombensicherer/volltreffersicherer Unterstand für Menschen und Kriegsgerät Glasgefäß

Where the eye mixes Bunker and Burke

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

6 ch
Bunker
5 ch
Burke

Why the eye confuses Bunker with Burke

A purely visual mix-up. Bunker ([ˈbʊŋkɐ]) and Burke ([ˈbʊʁkə]) 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 34908, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bunker is recorded at frequency rank #11,838, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbʊŋkɐ]. Burke is at rank #23,070, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbʊʁkə].

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 34908, this pair ranks #1,652,509 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bunker vs Burke

Shared letters: bekru. Private to "Bunker": n. Private to "Burke": -.

"Bunker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Burke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bunker ← bbunker · bnuker · bukner · bunekr · bunkerr · bunkker · bunkre · bunnker
  • Burke ← bburke · bruke · bukre · burek · burkke · burrke · ubrke

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Bunker" and "Burke" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbʊŋkɐ] versus [ˈbʊʁkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Bunker" or "Burke"?
"Bunker" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,838 in our German list, against #23,070 for "Burke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bunker" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Burke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,652,509 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bunker" and "Burke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Birk vs Burke". 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 #1,652,509 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