darkvsDRKConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,646
“dark” frequency rank
#13,124
“DRK” frequency rank
19770
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dark DRK
Definition die Tageszeit mit Dunkelheit, Finsternis Deutsches Rotes Kreuz

Where the eye mixes dark and DRK

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
dark
3 ch
DRK

Why the eye confuses dark with DRK

A purely visual mix-up. dark ([daːk]) and DRK ([deʔɛʁˈkaː]) 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 19770, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dark is recorded at frequency rank #6,646, classified as anoun, pronounced [daːk]. DRK is at rank #13,124, tagged as anoun, pronounced [deʔɛʁˈkaː].

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 19770, this pair ranks #1,904,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dark vs DRK

Shared letters: dkr. Private to "dark": a. Private to "DRK": -.

"dark" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "DRK" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • darkadrk · dakr · darkk · darrk · ddark · drak

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dark" for "DRK" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([daːk] versus [deʔɛʁˈkaː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dark" vs "DRK" - which ranks higher?
"dark" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,646 in our German list, against #13,124 for "DRK". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dark" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "DRK" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,904,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dark" and "DRK" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dörr vs DRK". 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 #1,904,760 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