DreckvsDrucksWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,110
“Dreck” frequency rank
#29,087
“Drucks” frequency rank
33197
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Dreck Drucks
Definition Schmutz, unerwünschte Substanz Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Druck

Where the eye mixes Dreck and Drucks

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Dreck
6 ch
Drucks

Look-alike desk: Dreck vs Drucks

A purely visual mix-up. Dreck ([dʁɛk]) and Drucks ([dʁʊks]) 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 33197, 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]. Drucks is at rank #29,087, tagged as anoun, pronounced [dʁʊks].

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 33197, this pair ranks #1,691,180 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Dreck vs Drucks

Shared letters: cdkr. Private to "Dreck": e. Private to "Drucks": su.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Dreckddreck · derck · drcek · drecck · dreckk · drekc · drreck · rdeck
  • Drucksddrucks · drcuks · drrucks · druccks · druckks · druckss · drucsk · drukcs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Dreck" for "Drucks" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([dʁɛk] versus [dʁʊks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Dreck" or "Drucks"?
"Dreck" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,110 in our German list, against #29,087 for "Drucks". 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 "Dreck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Drucks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,691,180 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Dreck" and "Drucks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Docks vs Drucks". 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 #1,691,180 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