Which to use
“Ekel” and “ewe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,563
- “Ekel” frequency rank
- #34,085
- “ewe” frequency rank
- 51648
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ekel | ewe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | starker körperlicher Abscheu | Ramme, weibliches Schaf, Mutterschaf |
Where the eye mixes Ekel and ewe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Ekel with ewe
A purely visual mix-up. Ekel ([ˈeːkl̩]) and ewe ([juː]) 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 51648, 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]. ewe is at rank #34,085, tagged as anoun, pronounced [juː].
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 51648, this pair ranks #1,127,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Ekel vs ewe
Shared letters: e. Private to "Ekel": kl. Private to "ewe": w.
"Ekel" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "ewe" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Ekel ← eekl · ekell · ekkel · keel
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Ekel" for "ewe" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Ekel" or "ewe" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Ekel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ewe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,127,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Ekel" and "ewe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Erle vs ewe". 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 #1,127,524 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.