HackervsHockerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,218
“Hacker” frequency rank
#19,951
“Hocker” frequency rank
28169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hacker Hocker
Definition Computerspezialist, der insbesondere Sicherheitsbarrieren überwinden und, meistens unerlaubt, in fremde Systeme eindringen kann einfaches Sitzmöbel ohne Rücken- und Armlehne

Where the eye mixes Hacker and Hocker

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Hacker
6 ch
Hocker

Look-alike desk: Hacker vs Hocker

A purely visual mix-up. Hacker ([ˈhɛkɐ]) and Hocker ([ˈhɔkɐ]) 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 - a in “Hacker” becomes o in “Hocker”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hacker is recorded at frequency rank #8,218, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛkɐ]. Hocker is at rank #19,951, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɔkɐ].

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 28169, this pair ranks #1,789,362 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hacker vs Hocker

Shared letters: cehkr. Private to "Hacker": a. Private to "Hocker": o.

"Hacker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Hocker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hackerahcker · haccker · hacekr · hackerr · hackker · hackre · hakcer · hcaker
  • Hockerhcoker · hhocker · hoccker · hocekr · hockerr · hockker · hockre · hokcer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Hacker" for "Hocker" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɛkɐ] versus [ˈhɔkɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Hacker" or "Hocker" show up more?
"Hacker" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,218 in our German list, against #19,951 for "Hocker". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hacker" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hocker" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,789,362 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hacker" and "Hocker" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heckler vs Hocker". 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 #1,789,362 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