MackevsMarkerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,248
“Macke” frequency rank
#29,236
“Marker” frequency rank
63484
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Macke Marker
Definition sonderbare Eigenart durchsichtig breit schreibender farbiger Stift, mit dem man Text hervorhebt

Where the eye mixes Macke and Marker

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Macke runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Marker's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Macke
6 ch
Marker

Why the eye confuses Macke with Marker

A purely visual mix-up. Macke ([ˈmakə]) and Marker ([ˈmaʁkɐ]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63484, 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]. Marker is at rank #29,236, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaʁkɐ].

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 63484, this pair ranks #675,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Macke vs Marker

Shared letters: aekm. Private to "Macke": c. Private to "Marker": r.

"Macke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Marker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Macke ← amcke · maccke · macek · mackke · makce · mcake · mmacke
  • Marker ← amrker · makrer · marekr · markerr · markker · markre · marrker · mmarker

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Macke" for "Marker" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmakə] versus [ˈmaʁkɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Macke" vs "Marker" - which ranks higher?
"Marker" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,236 in our German list, against #34,248 for "Macke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Macke" and "Marker" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Macke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Marker" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #675,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Macke" and "Marker" 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 #675,154 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