eckigvseiligWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,468
“eckig” frequency rank
#12,485
“eilig” frequency rank
49953
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eckig eilig
Definition mit Ecken; Ecken aufweisend in Eile, rasch

Where the eye mixes eckig and eilig

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

5 ch
eckig
5 ch
eilig

Visual trap between eckig and eilig

A purely visual mix-up. eckig ([ˈɛkɪç]) and eilig ([ˈaɪ̯lɪç]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49953, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eckig is recorded at frequency rank #37,468, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛkɪç]. eilig is at rank #12,485, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯lɪç].

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 49953, this pair ranks #1,192,198 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of eckig vs eilig

Shared letters: egi. Private to "eckig": ck. Private to "eilig": l.

"eckig" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "eilig" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eckigcekig · ecckig · ecikg · eckgi · eckigg · eckkig · ekcig
  • eiligeiilg · eilgi · eiligg · eillig · eliig · ielig

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "eckig" and "eilig" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛkɪç] versus [ˈaɪ̯lɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "eckig" or "eilig" show up more?
"eilig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,485 in our German list, against #37,468 for "eckig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "eckig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eilig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,192,198 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eckig" and "eilig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eckig vs eckigen". 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 #1,192,198 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