Which to use
“Laken” and “Laser” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,291
- “Laken” frequency rank
- #8,743
- “Laser” frequency rank
- 44034
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Laken | Laser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | großes Tuch, mit dem eine Matratze abgedeckt wird | Quelle für intensives, gerichtetes und kohärentes Licht nur eines kleinen Wellenlängenbereichs (monochromatisch) |
Where the eye mixes Laken and Laser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Laken and Laser follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Laken with Laser
A purely visual mix-up. Laken ([ˈlaːkn̩]) and Laser ([ˈlɛɪ̯zɐ]) 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 44034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Laken is recorded at frequency rank #35,291, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaːkn̩]. Laser is at rank #8,743, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛɪ̯zɐ].
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 44034, this pair ranks #1,399,156 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Laken vs Laser
Shared letters: ael. Private to "Laken": kn. Private to "Laser": rs.
"Laken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Laser" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Laken" and "Laser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Laken" vs "Laser" - which ranks higher?
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 "Laken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Laser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,399,156 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Laken" and "Laser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Laken vs Lasern". 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 #1,399,156 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.