Which to use
“Macke” and “Macken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,248
- “Macke” frequency rank
- #31,672
- “Macken” frequency rank
- 65920
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Macke | Macken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sonderbare Eigenart | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Macke |
Where the eye mixes Macke and Macken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Macke runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Macken's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Macke and Macken
A purely visual mix-up. Macke ([ˈmakə]) and Macken ([ˈmakn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Macke” sits inside “Macken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65920, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Macke is recorded at frequency rank #34,248, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmakə]. Macken is at rank #31,672, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmakn̩].
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 65920, this pair ranks #590,526 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Macke vs Macken
Shared letters: acekm. Private to "Macke": -. Private to "Macken": n.
"Macke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Macken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Macke" for "Macken" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Macke" vs "Macken" - which ranks higher?
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 "Macke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Macken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #590,526 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Macke" and "Macken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Macke vs Matze". 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 #590,526 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.