EhenvsEkelWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,583
“Ehen” frequency rank
#17,563
“Ekel” frequency rank
31146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ehen Ekel
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ehe starker körperlicher Abscheu

Where the eye mixes Ehen and Ekel

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Ehen and Ekel follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
Ehen
4 ch
Ekel

Why the eye confuses Ehen with Ekel

A purely visual mix-up. Ehen ([ˈeːən]) and Ekel ([ˈeːkl̩]) 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 31146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ehen is recorded at frequency rank #13,583, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈeːən]. Ekel is at rank #17,563, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈeːkl̩].

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 31146, this pair ranks #1,733,911 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ehen vs Ekel

Shared letters: e. Private to "Ehen": hn. Private to "Ekel": kl.

"Ehen" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "Ekel" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Eheneehn · ehenn · ehhen · ehne · heen
  • Ekeleekl · ekell · ekkel · keel

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ehen" for "Ekel" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈeːən] versus [ˈeːkl̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Ehen" or "Ekel"?
"Ehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,583 in our German list, against #17,563 for "Ekel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Ehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ekel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,733,911 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ehen" and "Ekel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Efeu vs Ekel". 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 #1,733,911 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