dekovsdewConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,775
“deko” frequency rank
#48,062
“dew” frequency rank
62837
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deko dew
Definition Gewichtseinheit; Kurzform für Dekagramm Niederschlag, durch Abkühlung (in Bodennähe) kondensierter Wasserdampf; Tau

Where the eye mixes deko and dew

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
deko
3 ch
dew

Visual trap between deko and dew

A purely visual mix-up. deko ([ˈdɛkɔ]) and dew ([djuː]) 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 62837, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deko is recorded at frequency rank #14,775, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɛkɔ]. dew is at rank #48,062, tagged as anoun, pronounced [djuː].

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 62837, this pair ranks #698,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of deko vs dew

Shared letters: de. Private to "deko": ko. Private to "dew": w.

"deko" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dew" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dekoddeko · dekko · deok · dkeo · edko

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "deko" for "dew" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdɛkɔ] versus [djuː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "deko" or "dew"?
"deko" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,775 in our German list, against #48,062 for "dew". 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 "deko" and "dew" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "deko" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dew" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #698,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deko" and "dew" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dew vs diet". 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 #698,407 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