Which to use
“Laken” is a noun and “lecken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,291
- “Laken” frequency rank
- #8,906
- “lecken” frequency rank
- 44197
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Laken | lecken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | großes Tuch, mit dem eine Matratze abgedeckt wird | mit der Zunge an einer Oberfläche herumfahren |
Where the eye mixes Laken and lecken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Laken runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against lecken's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Laken vs lecken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Laken is [ˈlaːkn̩] while lecken is [ˈlɛkn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44197, 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]. lecken is at rank #8,906, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛkn̩].
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 44197, this pair ranks #1,393,867 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Laken vs lecken
Shared letters: ekln. Private to "Laken": a. Private to "lecken": c.
"Laken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lecken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Laken" for "lecken" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Laken" or "lecken"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Laken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lecken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,393,867 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Laken" and "lecken" 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 #1,393,867 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.