KragenvsKrakenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,682
“Kragen” frequency rank
#44,022
“Kraken” frequency rank
54704
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kragen Kraken
Definition den Hals einfassendes Teil der Kleidung Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Krake

Where the eye mixes Kragen and Kraken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Kragen and Kraken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Kragen
6 ch
Kraken

Look-alike desk: Kragen vs Kraken

A purely visual mix-up. Kragen ([ˈkʁaːɡn̩]) and Kraken ([ˈkʁaːkn̩]) 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 - g in “Kragen” becomes k in “Kraken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kragen is recorded at frequency rank #10,682, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁaːɡn̩]. Kraken is at rank #44,022, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkʁaːkn̩].

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 54704, this pair ranks #1,008,427 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kragen vs Kraken

Shared letters: aeknr. Private to "Kragen": g. Private to "Kraken": -.

"Kragen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Kraken" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kragen ← kkragen · kraegn · kragenn · kraggen · kragne · krgaen · krragen · rkagen
  • Kraken ← karken · kkraken · kraekn · krakenn · krakken · krakne · krkaen · krraken

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kragen" for "Kraken" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkʁaːɡn̩] versus [ˈkʁaːkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Kragen" vs "Kraken" - which ranks higher?
"Kragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,682 in our German list, against #44,022 for "Kraken". 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 "Kragen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kraken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,008,427 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kragen" and "Kraken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kraken 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 #1,008,427 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