LakenvsLukeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#35,291
“Laken” frequency rank
#9,945
“Luke” frequency rank
45236
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Laken Luke
Definition großes Tuch, mit dem eine Matratze abgedeckt wird eine klappbare Tür; eine verschließbare Öffnung

Where the eye mixes Laken and Luke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Laken runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Luke's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Laken
4 ch
Luke

Why the eye confuses Laken with Luke

A purely visual mix-up. Laken ([ˈlaːkn̩]) and Luke ([ˈluːkə]) 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 45236, 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]. Luke is at rank #9,945, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈluːkə].

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 45236, this pair ranks #1,359,911 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Laken vs Luke

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "Laken": an. Private to "Luke": u.

"Laken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Luke" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Laken ← alken · laekn · lakenn · lakken · lakne · lkaen · llaken
  • Luke ← lkue · lluke · luek · lukke · ulke

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Laken" and "Luke" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaːkn̩] versus [ˈluːkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Laken" vs "Luke" - which ranks higher?
"Luke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,945 in our German list, against #35,291 for "Laken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Laken" and "Luke" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Laken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Luke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,359,911 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Laken" and "Luke" 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 #1,359,911 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