DrecksvsDreiecksWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,890
“Drecks” frequency rank
#38,055
“Dreiecks” frequency rank
74945
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Drecks Dreiecks
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Dreck Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Dreieck

Where the eye mixes Drecks and Dreiecks

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Drecks runs 6 letters (CCVCCC) against Dreiecks's 8 (CCVVVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Drecks
8 ch
Dreiecks

Why the eye confuses Drecks with Dreiecks

A purely visual mix-up. Drecks ([dʁɛks]) and Dreiecks ([ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌʔɛks]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Drecks is recorded at frequency rank #36,890, classified as anoun, pronounced [dʁɛks]. Dreiecks is at rank #38,055, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌʔɛks].

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 74945, this pair ranks #320,376 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Drecks vs Dreiecks

Shared letters: cdekrs. Private to "Drecks": -. Private to "Dreiecks": i.

"Drecks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "Dreiecks" · 8 letters · shape CCVVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Drecks ← ddrecks · dercks · drceks · dreccks · dreckks · dreckss · drecsk · drekcs
  • Dreiecks ← ddreiecks · deriecks · dreeicks · dreiceks · dreieccks · dreieckks · dreieckss · dreiecsk

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Drecks" for "Dreiecks" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([dʁɛks] versus [ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌʔɛks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Drecks" or "Dreiecks"?
"Drecks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,890 in our German list, against #38,055 for "Dreiecks". 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 "Drecks" and "Dreiecks" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Drecks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Dreiecks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #320,376 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Drecks" and "Dreiecks" 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 #320,376 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