lockevslockernWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,327
“locke” frequency rank
#23,223
“lockern” frequency rank
43550
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature locke lockern
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs locken locker machen

Where the eye mixes locke and lockern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. locke runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against lockern's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
locke
7 ch
lockern

Look-alike desk: locke vs lockern

A purely visual mix-up. locke ([ˈlɔkə]) and lockern ([ˈlɔkɐn]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “locke” sits inside “lockern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

locke is recorded at frequency rank #20,327, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlɔkə]. 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 43550, this pair ranks #1,414,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of locke vs lockern

Shared letters: ceklo. Private to "locke": -. Private to "lockern": nr.

"locke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lockern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • locke ← lcoke · llocke · loccke · locek · lockke · lokce · olcke
  • lockern ← lcokern · llockern · locckern · locekrn · lockenr · lockernn · lockerrn · lockkern

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "locke" and "lockern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɔkə] versus [ˈlɔkɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "locke" or "lockern"?
"locke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,327 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.

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 "locke" 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 #1,414,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "locke" and "lockern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "locke vs Lübke". 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 #1,414,583 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