Which to use
“liken” and “losen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,513
- “liken” frequency rank
- #22,422
- “losen” frequency rank
- 61935
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | liken | losen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas nach seinem Geschmack finden, Wohlgefallen an etwas finden; jemanden leiden mögen | eine Entscheidung per Los herbeiführen |
Where the eye mixes liken and losen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. liken and losen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: liken vs losen
A purely visual mix-up. liken ([ˈlaɪ̯kn̩]) and losen ([ˈloːzn̩]) 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 61935, 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]. losen is at rank #22,422, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈloːzn̩].
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 61935, this pair ranks #731,288 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of liken vs losen
Shared letters: eln. Private to "liken": ik. Private to "losen": os.
"liken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "losen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "liken" for "losen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "liken" vs "losen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "liken" and "losen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "liken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "losen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #731,288 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "liken" and "losen" 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 #731,288 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.