LackevsLäuseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#45,413
“Lacke” frequency rank
#43,335
“Läuse” frequency rank
88748
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lacke Läuse
Definition kleine Flüssigkeitsansammlung; Ansammlung von Regenwasser, Pfütze, kleines Gewässer Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Laus

Where the eye mixes Lacke and Läuse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Lacke (CVCCV) and Läuse (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Lacke
5 ch
Läuse

Look-alike desk: Lacke vs Läuse

A purely visual mix-up. Lacke ([ˈlakə]) and Läuse ([ˈlɔɪ̯zə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88748, 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]. Läuse is at rank #43,335, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯zə].

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 88748, this pair ranks #64,878 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Lacke vs Läuse

Shared letters: el. Private to "Lacke": ack. Private to "Läuse": suä.

"Lacke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Läuse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lacke ← alcke · laccke · lacek · lackke · lakce · lcake · llacke

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Lacke" and "Läuse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlakə] versus [ˈlɔɪ̯zə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Lacke" or "Läuse"?
"Läuse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,335 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

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lacke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Läuse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #64,878 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lacke" and "Läuse" 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 #64,878 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