LuchsvsLückeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#37,657
“Luchs” frequency rank
#6,083
“Lücke” frequency rank
43740
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Luchs Lücke
Definition Tiergattung Lynx aus der Familie der Katzen ( Felinae) Stelle, an der etwas fehlt, das dort sein sollte oder dort hin kann

Where the eye mixes Luchs and Lücke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Luchs
5 ch
Lücke

Look-alike desk: Luchs vs Lücke

A purely visual mix-up. Luchs ([lʊks]) and Lücke ([ˈlʏkə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Luchs is recorded at frequency rank #37,657, classified as anoun, pronounced [lʊks]. Lücke is at rank #6,083, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlʏkə].

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 43740, this pair ranks #1,408,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Luchs vs Lücke

Shared letters: cl. Private to "Luchs": hsu. Private to "Lücke": ekü.

"Luchs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Lücke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Luchslcuhs · lluchs · lucchs · luchhs · luchss · lucsh · luhcs · ulchs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Luchs" and "Lücke" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([lʊks] versus [ˈlʏkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Luchs" or "Lücke" show up more?
"Lücke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,083 in our German list, against #37,657 for "Luchs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Luchs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lücke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,408,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Luchs" and "Lücke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lucca vs Luchs". 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 #1,408,444 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