FlickenvsFlockenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,547
“Flicken” frequency rank
#38,104
“Flocken” frequency rank
69651
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes Flicken and Flocken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Flicken and Flocken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Flicken
7 ch
Flocken

Visual trap between Flicken and Flocken

A purely visual mix-up. Flicken ([ˈflɪkn̩]) and Flocken ([ˈflɔkn̩]) 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 a single letter - i in “Flicken” becomes o in “Flocken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69651, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Flicken is recorded at frequency rank #31,547, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈflɪkn̩]. Flocken is at rank #38,104, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈflɔkn̩].

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 69651, this pair ranks #470,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Flicken vs Flocken

Shared letters: cefkln. Private to "Flicken": i. Private to "Flocken": o.

"Flicken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Flocken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Flicken ← fflicken · filcken · flciken · fliccken · flicekn · flickenn · flickken · flickne
  • Flocken ← fflocken · flcoken · fllocken · floccken · flocekn · flockenn · flockken · flockne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Flicken" and "Flocken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈflɪkn̩] versus [ˈflɔkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Flicken" vs "Flocken" - which ranks higher?
"Flicken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,547 in our German list, against #38,104 for "Flocken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Flicken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Flocken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #470,070 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Flicken" and "Flocken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Flocken vs Floskel". 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 #470,070 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