MaskevsMuskelConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,623
“Maske” frequency rank
#13,207
“Muskel” frequency rank
18830
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Maske Muskel
Definition Gegenstand zur Verhüllung oder zum Schutz Organ, welches durch die Abfolge von Kontraktion und Erschlaffen innere und äußere Strukturen des Organismus bewegen kann

Where the eye mixes Maske and Muskel

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Maske
6 ch
Muskel

Why the eye confuses Maske with Muskel

A purely visual mix-up. Maske ([ˈmaskə]) and Muskel ([ˈmʊskl̩]) 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 18830, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Maske is recorded at frequency rank #5,623, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaskə]. Muskel is at rank #13,207, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmʊskl̩].

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 18830, this pair ranks #1,914,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Maske vs Muskel

Shared letters: ekms. Private to "Maske": a. Private to "Muskel": lu.

"Maske" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Muskel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Maskeamske · makse · masek · maskke · masske · mmaske · msake
  • Muskelmmuskel · msukel · muksel · musekl · muskell · muskkel · muskle · musskel

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Maske" and "Muskel" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaskə] versus [ˈmʊskl̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Maske" or "Muskel" show up more?
"Maske" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,623 in our German list, against #13,207 for "Muskel". 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 "Maske" and "Muskel" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Maske" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Muskel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,914,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Maske" and "Muskel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Muriel vs Muskel". 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 #1,914,503 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