FleckvsFockWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,916
“Fleck” frequency rank
#48,895
“Fock” frequency rank
56811
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fleck Fock
Definition Stelle, die verschmutzt (und schlecht^([1])) ist ein kleineres Vorsegel, welches am Mast nicht überlappt; auf Yachten wird es bei Starkwind statt einer Genua angeschlagen

Where the eye mixes Fleck and Fock

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Fleck runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against Fock's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Fleck
4 ch
Fock

Look-alike desk: Fleck vs Fock

A purely visual mix-up. Fleck ([flɛk]) and Fock ([fɔk]) 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 56811, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fleck is recorded at frequency rank #7,916, classified as anoun, pronounced [flɛk]. Fock is at rank #48,895, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɔk].

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 56811, this pair ranks #925,695 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Fleck vs Fock

Shared letters: cfk. Private to "Fleck": el. Private to "Fock": o.

"Fleck" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Fock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fleck ← felck · ffleck · flcek · flecck · fleckk · flekc · flleck · lfeck
  • Fock ← fcok · ffock · focck · fockk · fokc · ofck

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Fleck" for "Fock" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([flɛk] versus [fɔk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Fleck" or "Fock" show up more?
"Fleck" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,916 in our German list, against #48,895 for "Fock". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fleck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Fock" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #925,695 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fleck" and "Fock" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fack vs Fock". 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 #925,695 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