leckerenvslockernWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#15,143
“leckeren” frequency rank
#23,223
“lockern” frequency rank
38366
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leckeren lockern
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lecker locker machen

Where the eye mixes leckeren and lockern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. leckeren runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against lockern's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
leckeren
7 ch
lockern

Visual trap between leckeren and lockern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leckeren is [ˈlɛkəʁən] while lockern is [ˈlɔkɐn]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leckeren is recorded at frequency rank #15,143, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛkəʁən]. lockern is at rank #23,223, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɔkɐn].

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 38366, this pair ranks #1,565,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leckeren vs lockern

Shared letters: ceklnr. Private to "leckeren": -. Private to "lockern": o.

"leckeren" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "lockern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leckerenelckeren · lcekeren · lecckeren · lecekren · leckeern · leckerenn · leckerne · leckerren
  • lockernlcokern · llockern · locckern · locekrn · lockenr · lockernn · lockerrn · lockkern

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "leckeren" and "lockern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leckeren" is an adjective and "lockern" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "leckeren" vs "lockern" - which ranks higher?
"leckeren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,143 in our German list, against #23,223 for "lockern". 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 "leckeren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lockern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,565,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leckeren" and "lockern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lockern vs lockert". 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 #1,565,862 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