LackevslanceConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#45,413
“Lacke” frequency rank
#25,214
“lance” frequency rank
70627
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lacke lance
Definition kleine Flüssigkeitsansammlung; Ansammlung von Regenwasser, Pfütze, kleines Gewässer Waffe aus einem langen Stiel und einer Spitze aus Eisen

Where the eye mixes Lacke and lance

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Lacke and lance follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Lacke
5 ch
lance

Why the eye confuses Lacke with lance

A purely visual mix-up. Lacke ([ˈlakə]) and lance ([lɑ̃s]) 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 70627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lacke is recorded at frequency rank #45,413, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlakə]. lance is at rank #25,214, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɑ̃s].

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 70627, this pair ranks #440,550 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Lacke vs lance

Shared letters: acel. Private to "Lacke": k. Private to "lance": n.

"Lacke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lance" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lacke ← alcke · laccke · lacek · lackke · lakce · lcake · llacke
  • lance ← alnce · lacne · lancce · lanec · lannce · llance · lnace

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Lacke" and "lance" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlakə] versus [lɑ̃s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Lacke" or "lance"?
"lance" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,214 in our German list, against #45,413 for "Lacke". 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 "Lacke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lance" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #440,550 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lacke" and "lance" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lacke vs lame". 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 #440,550 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