Which to use
“hacking” and “hawking” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,941
- “hacking” frequency rank
- #39,414
- “hawking” frequency rank
- 83355
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hacking | hawking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs hack | Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs hawk |
Letter map: hacking vs hawking
Shared letters muted; letters that set hacking and hawking apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Spelling & dictionary notes on hacking vs hawking
hacking and hawking are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - c in “hacking” becomes w in “hawking”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hacking is recorded at frequency rank #43,941, classified as averb, pronounced […]. hawking is at rank #39,414, tagged as averb, pronounced […].
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 83355, this pair ranks #141,290 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hacking vs hawking
Shared letters: aghikn. Private to "hacking": c. Private to "hawking": w.
"hacking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "hawking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hacking" for "hawking" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hacking" vs "hawking" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "hacking" and "hawking". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "hacking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hawking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #141,290 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hacking" and "hawking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hacking vs puzzles". 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 #141,290 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.