likenvsLinkerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: liken is a verb, Linker is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“liken” is a verb and “Linker” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,513
“liken” frequency rank
#6,831
“Linker” frequency rank
46344
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature liken Linker
Definition etwas nach seinem Geschmack finden, Wohlgefallen an etwas finden; jemanden leiden mögen politisch links eingestellte Person

Where the eye mixes liken and Linker

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
liken
6 ch
Linker

Look-alike desk: liken vs Linker

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: liken is [ˈlaɪ̯kn̩] while Linker is [ˈlɪŋkɐ]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46344, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

liken is recorded at frequency rank #39,513, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯kn̩]. Linker is at rank #6,831, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɪŋkɐ].

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 46344, this pair ranks #1,322,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of liken vs Linker

Shared letters: eikln. Private to "liken": -. Private to "Linker": r.

"liken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Linker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • likenilken · liekn · likenn · likken · lkien · lliken
  • Linkerilnker · likner · linekr · linkerr · linkker · linkre · linnker · llinker

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "liken" for "Linker" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "liken" is a verb and "Linker" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "liken" or "Linker" show up more?
"Linker" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,831 in our German list, against #39,513 for "liken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "liken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Linker" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,322,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "liken" and "Linker" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lauen vs liken". 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 #1,322,283 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