DreckvsDrecksConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,110
“Dreck” frequency rank
#36,890
“Drecks” frequency rank
41000
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dreck Drecks
Definition Schmutz, unerwünschte Substanz Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Dreck

Where the eye mixes Dreck and Drecks

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Dreck
6 ch
Drecks

Look-alike desk: Dreck vs Drecks

A purely visual mix-up. Dreck ([dʁɛk]) and Drecks ([dʁɛks]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Dreck” sits inside “Drecks”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Dreck is recorded at frequency rank #4,110, classified as anoun, pronounced [dʁɛk]. Drecks is at rank #36,890, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dʁɛks].

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 41000, this pair ranks #1,492,167 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Dreck vs Drecks

Shared letters: cdekr. Private to "Dreck": -. Private to "Drecks": s.

"Dreck" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Drecks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dreckddreck · derck · drcek · drecck · dreckk · drekc · drreck · rdeck
  • Drecksddrecks · dercks · drceks · dreccks · dreckks · dreckss · drecsk · drekcs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Dreck" for "Drecks" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([dʁɛk] versus [dʁɛks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Dreck" or "Drecks"?
"Dreck" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,110 in our German list, against #36,890 for "Drecks". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Dreck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Drecks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,492,167 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dreck" and "Drecks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Docks vs Drecks". 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 #1,492,167 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