eckigvsewigWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#37,468
“eckig” frequency rank
#2,496
“ewig” frequency rank
39964
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eckig ewig
Definition mit Ecken; Ecken aufweisend endlos, zeitlich unbegrenzt

Where the eye mixes eckig and ewig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. eckig runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against ewig's 4 (VCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
eckig
4 ch
ewig

Look-alike desk: eckig vs ewig

A purely visual mix-up. eckig ([ˈɛkɪç]) and ewig ([ˈeːvɪç]) 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 39964, 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]. ewig is at rank #2,496, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːvɪç].

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 39964, this pair ranks #1,521,915 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of eckig vs ewig

Shared letters: egi. Private to "eckig": ck. Private to "ewig": w.

"eckig" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "ewig" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eckig ← cekig · ecckig · ecikg · eckgi · eckigg · eckkig · ekcig
  • ewig ← eiwg · ewgi · ewigg · ewwig · weig

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eckig" and "ewig" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛkɪç] versus [ˈeːvɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "eckig" or "ewig" show up more?
"ewig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,496 in our German list, against #37,468 for "eckig". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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 "ewig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,521,915 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eckig" and "ewig" 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 #1,521,915 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