FlankevsFunkeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,912
“Flanke” frequency rank
#15,361
“Funke” frequency rank
28273
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Flanke Funke
Definition eine Seite des Körpers vierbeiniger Säugetiere kleines, in der Luft verbrennendes glühendes Teilchen

Where the eye mixes Flanke and Funke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Flanke
5 ch
Funke

Why the eye confuses Flanke with Funke

A purely visual mix-up. Flanke ([ˈflaŋkə]) and Funke ([ˈfʊŋkə]) 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 28273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Flanke is recorded at frequency rank #12,912, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈflaŋkə]. Funke is at rank #15,361, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʊŋkə].

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 28273, this pair ranks #1,787,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Flanke vs Funke

Shared letters: efkn. Private to "Flanke": al. Private to "Funke": u.

"Flanke" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Funke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Flankefalnke · fflanke · flakne · flanek · flankke · flannke · fllanke · flnake
  • Funkeffunke · fnuke · fukne · funek · funkke · funnke · ufnke

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Flanke" for "Funke" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈflaŋkə] versus [ˈfʊŋkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Flanke" or "Funke"?
"Flanke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,912 in our German list, against #15,361 for "Funke". 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 "Flanke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Funke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,787,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Flanke" and "Funke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Funke vs funzt". 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 #1,787,678 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