DachsvsDocksWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,671
“Dachs” frequency rank
#49,588
“Docks” frequency rank
77259
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dachs Docks
Definition ein Säugetier mit grauem Fell und markanter weiß-schwarzer Fellzeichnung am Kopf, das in den europäischen Wäldern anzutreffen ist; der Europäische Dachs Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Dock

Where the eye mixes Dachs and Docks

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Dachs and Docks follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Dachs
5 ch
Docks

Look-alike desk: Dachs vs Docks

A purely visual mix-up. Dachs ([daks]) and Docks ([dɔks]) 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 77259, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dachs is recorded at frequency rank #27,671, classified as anoun, pronounced [daks]. Docks is at rank #49,588, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dɔks].

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 77259, this pair ranks #264,838 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Dachs vs Docks

Shared letters: cds. Private to "Dachs": ah. Private to "Docks": ko.

"Dachs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Docks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dachs ← adchs · dacchs · dachhs · dachss · dacsh · dahcs · dcahs · ddachs
  • Docks ← dcoks · ddocks · doccks · dockks · dockss · docsk · dokcs · odcks

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Dachs" and "Docks" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([daks] versus [dɔks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Dachs" or "Docks" show up more?
"Dachs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,671 in our German list, against #49,588 for "Docks". 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 "Dachs" and "Docks" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Dachs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Docks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #264,838 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dachs" and "Docks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Docks vs Docs". 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 #264,838 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