kuckvsKussTell them apart

Quick tell: kuck is a verb, Kuss is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kuck” is a verb and “Kuss” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,299
“kuck” frequency rank
#5,861
“Kuss” frequency rank
47160
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kuck Kuss
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kucken die Berührung der Lippen auf die Lippen oder beliebige andere Körperteile (einschließlich der Zunge und der Geschlechtsorgane) eines anderen Menschen oder einen, durch diese Geste geliebten oder verehrten Gegenstand

Where the eye mixes kuck and Kuss

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
kuck
4 ch
Kuss

Why the eye confuses kuck with Kuss

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kuck is [kʊk] while Kuss is [kʊs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47160, 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]. Kuss is at rank #5,861, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʊs].

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 47160, this pair ranks #1,294,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kuck vs Kuss

Shared letters: ku. Private to "kuck": c. Private to "Kuss": s.

"kuck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Kuss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kuckkcuk · kkuck · kucck · kuckk · kukc · ukck
  • Kusskkuss · ksus · kus · kuß · ukss

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "kuck" for "Kuss" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kuck" is a verb and "Kuss" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "kuck" vs "Kuss" - which ranks higher?
"Kuss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,861 in our German list, against #41,299 for "kuck". 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 "kuck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kuss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,294,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kuck" and "Kuss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kuck 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 #1,294,108 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