Which to use
“Ekel” is a noun and “Emil” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,563
- “Ekel” frequency rank
- #8,550
- “Emil” frequency rank
- 26113
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ekel | Emil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | starker körperlicher Abscheu | männlicher Vorname; Emil |
Where the eye mixes Ekel and Emil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Ekel with Emil
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ekel is [ˈeːkl̩] while Emil is [ˈeːmiːl]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Ekel is recorded at frequency rank #17,563, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈeːkl̩]. Emil is at rank #8,550, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈeːmiːl].
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 26113, this pair ranks #1,822,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Ekel vs Emil
Shared letters: el. Private to "Ekel": k. Private to "Emil": im.
"Ekel" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "Emil" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Ekel" for "Emil" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Ekel" or "Emil"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Ekel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Emil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,822,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Ekel" and "Emil" 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 #1,822,965 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.