fuckvsfühlConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,038
“fuck” frequency rank
#6,428
“fühl” frequency rank
10466
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fuck fühl
Definition ficken, vögeln 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fühlen

Where the eye mixes fuck and fühl

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
fuck
4 ch
fühl

Why the eye confuses fuck with fühl

A purely visual mix-up. fuck ([fʌk]) and fühl ([fyːl]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fuck is recorded at frequency rank #4,038, classified as averb, pronounced [fʌk]. fühl is at rank #6,428, tagged as averb, pronounced [fyːl].

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 10466, this pair ranks #1,974,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fuck vs fühl

Shared letters: f. Private to "fuck": cku. Private to "fühl": hlü.

"fuck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fühl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fuckfcuk · ffuck · fucck · fuckk · fukc · ufck

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fuck" for "fühl" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fʌk] versus [fyːl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fuck" or "fühl"?
"fuck" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,038 in our German list, against #6,428 for "fühl". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fuck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fühl" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,974,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fuck" and "fühl" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fock vs fuck". 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 #1,974,986 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