kuckvskuckenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,299
“kuck” frequency rank
#49,848
“kucken” frequency rank
91147
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kuck kucken
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kucken seine Augen auf etwas richten

Where the eye mixes kuck and kucken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. kuck runs 4 letters (CVCC) against kucken's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
kuck
6 ch
kucken

Look-alike desk: kuck vs kucken

A purely visual mix-up. kuck ([kʊk]) and kucken ([ˈkʊkn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “kuck” sits inside “kucken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kuck is recorded at frequency rank #41,299, classified as averb, pronounced [kʊk]. kucken is at rank #49,848, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkʊkn̩].

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 91147, this pair ranks #40,485 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kuck vs kucken

Shared letters: cku. Private to "kuck": -. Private to "kucken": en.

"kuck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "kucken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kuck ← kcuk · kkuck · kucck · kuckk · kukc · ukck
  • kucken ← kcuken · kkucken · kuccken · kucekn · kuckenn · kuckken · kuckne · kukcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kuck" and "kucken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kʊk] versus [ˈkʊkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kuck" vs "kucken" - which ranks higher?
"kuck" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,299 in our German list, against #49,848 for "kucken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "kuck" and "kucken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kuck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kucken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,485 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kuck" and "kucken" 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 #40,485 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