lackierenvsleckerenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: lackieren is a verb, leckeren is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lackieren” is a verb and “leckeren” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,315
“lackieren” frequency rank
#15,143
“leckeren” frequency rank
58458
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lackieren leckeren
Definition mit Lack versehen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lecker

Where the eye mixes lackieren and leckeren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. lackieren runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCVC) against leckeren's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
lackieren
8 ch
leckeren

Visual trap between lackieren and leckeren

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lackieren is [laˈkiːʁən] while leckeren is [ˈlɛkəʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lackieren is recorded at frequency rank #43,315, classified as averb, pronounced [laˈkiːʁən]. leckeren is at rank #15,143, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛkəʁən].

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 58458, this pair ranks #862,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lackieren vs leckeren

Shared letters: ceklnr. Private to "lackieren": ai. Private to "leckeren": -.

"lackieren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "leckeren" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lackierenalckieren · lacckieren · lacikeren · lackeiren · lackieern · lackierenn · lackierne · lackierren
  • leckerenelckeren · lcekeren · lecckeren · lecekren · leckeern · leckerenn · leckerne · leckerren

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lackieren" and "leckeren" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lackieren" is a verb and "leckeren" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "lackieren" or "leckeren" show up more?
"leckeren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,143 in our German list, against #43,315 for "lackieren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lackieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leckeren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #862,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lackieren" and "leckeren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lackieren vs lackiert". 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 #862,014 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