kickenvsklickenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,270
“kicken” frequency rank
#3,328
“klicken” frequency rank
31598
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kicken klicken
Definition etwas oder jemanden treten ein kurzes, helles, metallisches Geräusch von sich geben

Where the eye mixes kicken and klicken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
kicken
7 ch
klicken

Why the eye confuses kicken with klicken

A purely visual mix-up. kicken ([ˈkɪkn̩]) and klicken ([ˈklɪkn̩]) 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 31598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kicken is recorded at frequency rank #28,270, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkɪkn̩]. klicken is at rank #3,328, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈklɪkn̩].

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 31598, this pair ranks #1,724,895 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kicken vs klicken

Shared letters: ceikn. Private to "kicken": -. Private to "klicken": l.

"kicken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "klicken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kickenikcken · kciken · kiccken · kicekn · kickenn · kickken · kickne · kikcen
  • klickenkilcken · kklicken · klciken · kliccken · klicekn · klickenn · klickken · klickne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kicken" and "klicken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɪkn̩] versus [ˈklɪkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kicken" vs "klicken" - which ranks higher?
"klicken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,328 in our German list, against #28,270 for "kicken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kicken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "klicken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,724,895 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kicken" and "klicken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kicken vs kucken". 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 #1,724,895 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