HenkervsHockerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,602
“Henker” frequency rank
#19,951
“Hocker” frequency rank
39553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Henker Hocker
Definition jemand, der Hinrichtungen vollzieht einfaches Sitzmöbel ohne Rücken- und Armlehne

Where the eye mixes Henker and Hocker

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Henker
6 ch
Hocker

Why the eye confuses Henker with Hocker

A purely visual mix-up. Henker ([ˈhɛŋkɐ]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Henker is recorded at frequency rank #19,602, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɛŋkɐ]. 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 39553, this pair ranks #1,533,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Henker vs Hocker

Shared letters: ehkr. Private to "Henker": n. Private to "Hocker": co.

"Henker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Hocker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Henkerehnker · hekner · henekr · henkerr · henkker · henkre · hennker · hhenker
  • Hockerhcoker · hhocker · hoccker · hocekr · hockerr · hockker · hockre · hokcer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Henker" for "Hocker" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɛŋkɐ] versus [ˈhɔkɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Henker" or "Hocker"?
"Henker" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,602 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Henker" 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 #1,533,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Henker" and "Hocker" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hemer vs Henker". 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 #1,533,584 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