LackevsLückenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#45,413
“Lacke” frequency rank
#8,908
“Lücken” frequency rank
54321
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes Lacke and Lücken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Lacke runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Lücken's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Lacke
6 ch
Lücken

Why the eye confuses Lacke with Lücken

A purely visual mix-up. Lacke ([ˈlakə]) and Lücken ([ˈlʏkn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54321, 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]. Lücken is at rank #8,908, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlʏkn̩].

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 54321, this pair ranks #1,023,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lacke vs Lücken

Shared letters: cekl. Private to "Lacke": a. Private to "Lücken": nü.

"Lacke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Lücken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Lacke" and "Lücken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlakə] versus [ˈlʏkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Lacke" vs "Lücken" - which ranks higher?
"Lücken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,908 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 "Lücken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,023,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lacke" and "Lücken" 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 #1,023,439 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