FlankenvsFlickenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#22,336
“Flanken” frequency rank
#31,547
“Flicken” frequency rank
53883
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Flanken Flicken
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Flanke ein kleiner, meist quadratförmiger Ausschnitt eines Stoffes zur Bedeckung/Reparatur aufgerissener Löcher in Kleidungsstücken

Where the eye mixes Flanken and Flicken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Flanken and Flicken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Flanken
7 ch
Flicken

Visual trap between Flanken and Flicken

A purely visual mix-up. Flanken ([ˈflaŋkn̩]) and Flicken ([ˈflɪkn̩]) 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 53883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Flanken is recorded at frequency rank #22,336, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈflaŋkn̩]. Flicken is at rank #31,547, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈflɪkn̩].

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 53883, this pair ranks #1,040,634 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Flanken vs Flicken

Shared letters: efkln. Private to "Flanken": a. Private to "Flicken": ci.

"Flanken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Flicken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Flanken ← falnken · fflanken · flaknen · flanekn · flankenn · flankken · flankne · flannken
  • Flicken ← fflicken · filcken · flciken · fliccken · flicekn · flickenn · flickken · flickne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Flanken" for "Flicken" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈflaŋkn̩] versus [ˈflɪkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Flanken" vs "Flicken" - which ranks higher?
"Flanken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,336 in our German list, against #31,547 for "Flicken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Flanken" and "Flicken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Flanken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Flicken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,040,634 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Flanken" and "Flicken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Flicken vs Flocken". 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 #1,040,634 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