Which to use
“hacken” and “hinken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,485
- “hacken” frequency rank
- #34,733
- “hinken” frequency rank
- 45218
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hacken | hinken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit einem spitzen Werkzeug auflockern, zerkleinern, zerschlagen | schaukelnd gehen |
Where the eye mixes hacken and hinken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hacken with hinken
A purely visual mix-up. hacken ([ˈhakn̩]) and hinken ([ˈhɪŋkn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45218, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hacken is recorded at frequency rank #10,485, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈhakn̩]. hinken is at rank #34,733, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhɪŋkn̩].
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 45218, this pair ranks #1,360,546 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hacken vs hinken
Shared letters: ehkn. Private to "hacken": ac. Private to "hinken": i.
"hacken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hinken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hacken" and "hinken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "hacken" or "hinken" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "hacken" and "hinken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hacken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hinken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,360,546 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hacken" and "hinken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hinken vs hissen". 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 #1,360,546 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.