HackevsHockTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,553
“Hacke” frequency rank
#35,238
“Hock” frequency rank
58791
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hacke Hock
Definition Gartengerät zum Auflockern der Erde geselliges Beisammensein

Where the eye mixes Hacke and Hock

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

5 ch
Hacke
4 ch
Hock

Why the eye confuses Hacke with Hock

A purely visual mix-up. Hacke ([ˈhakə]) and Hock ([hɔk]) 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 58791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hacke is recorded at frequency rank #23,553, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhakə]. Hock is at rank #35,238, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɔk].

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 58791, this pair ranks #849,161 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Hacke vs Hock

Shared letters: chk. Private to "Hacke": ae. Private to "Hock": o.

"Hacke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Hock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hacke ← ahcke · haccke · hacek · hackke · hakce · hcake · hhacke
  • Hock ← hcok · hhock · hocck · hockk · hokc · ohck

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hacke" and "Hock" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhakə] versus [hɔk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Hacke" vs "Hock" - which ranks higher?
"Hacke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,553 in our German list, against #35,238 for "Hock". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hacke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hock" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #849,161 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hacke" and "Hock" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hock vs höh". 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 #849,161 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