geschicktvsgeschocktWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: geschickt is a adjective, geschockt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“geschickt” is an adjective and “geschockt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,065
“geschickt” frequency rank
#13,842
“geschockt” frequency rank
15907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geschickt geschockt
Definition von hoher, guter Handfertigkeit, Handwerklichkeit Partizip Perfekt des Verbs schocken

Where the eye mixes geschickt and geschockt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. geschickt and geschockt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
geschickt
9 ch
geschockt

Why the eye confuses geschickt with geschockt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: geschickt is [ɡəˈʃɪkt] while geschockt is [ɡəˈʃɔkt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “geschickt” becomes o in “geschockt”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geschickt is recorded at frequency rank #2,065, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃɪkt]. geschockt is at rank #13,842, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʃɔkt].

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 15907, this pair ranks #1,940,180 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geschickt vs geschockt

Shared letters: ceghkst. Private to "geschickt": i. Private to "geschockt": o.

"geschickt" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCC  ·  "geschockt" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geschickt ← egschickt · gecshickt · gescchickt · geschcikt · geschhickt · geschicckt · geschickkt · geschicktt
  • geschockt ← egschockt · gecshockt · gescchockt · geschcokt · geschhockt · geschocckt · geschockkt · geschocktt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "geschickt" and "geschockt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "geschickt" is an adjective and "geschockt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "geschickt" or "geschockt" show up more?
"geschickt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,065 in our German list, against #13,842 for "geschockt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "geschickt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geschockt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,940,180 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geschickt" and "geschockt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geschockt vs geschont". 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 #1,940,180 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