HacksvsHockWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,711
“Hacks” frequency rank
#35,238
“Hock” frequency rank
69949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hacks Hock
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Hack geselliges Beisammensein

Where the eye mixes Hacks and Hock

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

5 ch
Hacks
4 ch
Hock

Why the eye confuses Hacks with Hock

A purely visual mix-up. Hacks ([haks]) 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 69949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hacks is recorded at frequency rank #34,711, classified as anoun, pronounced [haks]. 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 69949, this pair ranks #461,087 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Hacks vs Hock

Shared letters: chk. Private to "Hacks": as. Private to "Hock": o.

"Hacks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Hock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hacks ← ahcks · haccks · hackks · hackss · hacsk · hakcs · hcaks · hhacks
  • Hock ← hcok · hhock · hocck · hockk · hokc · ohck

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hacks" and "Hock" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([haks] versus [hɔk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Hacks" or "Hock"?
"Hacks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,711 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.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hacks" 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 #461,087 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hacks" 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 #461,087 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