MackevsMatteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,248
“Macke” frequency rank
#15,152
“Matte” frequency rank
49400
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Macke Matte
Definition sonderbare Eigenart eine aus grobem Flechtwerk oder Gewebe aus Bast, Binsen, Schilf, Stroh, synthetischen Fasern oder Ähnlichem bestehende Unterlage oder dergleichen

Where the eye mixes Macke and Matte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Macke
5 ch
Matte

Visual trap between Macke and Matte

A purely visual mix-up. Macke ([ˈmakə]) and Matte ([ˈmatə]) 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 49400, 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]. Matte is at rank #15,152, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmatə].

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 49400, this pair ranks #1,212,977 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Macke vs Matte

Shared letters: aem. Private to "Macke": ck. Private to "Matte": t.

"Macke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Matte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mackeamcke · maccke · macek · mackke · makce · mcake · mmacke
  • Matteamtte · mate · matet · mmatte · mtate

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Macke" and "Matte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmakə] versus [ˈmatə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Macke" or "Matte" show up more?
"Matte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,152 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Macke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Matte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,212,977 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Macke" and "Matte" 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 #1,212,977 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