nacktervsnickteTell them apart

Quick tell: nackter is a adjective, nickte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nackter” is an adjective and “nickte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,540
“nackter” frequency rank
#25,687
“nickte” frequency rank
52227
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nackter nickte
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs nackt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs nicken

Where the eye mixes nackter and nickte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
nackter
6 ch
nickte

Visual trap between nackter and nickte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nackter is [ˈnaktɐ] while nickte is [ˈnɪktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nackter is recorded at frequency rank #26,540, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈnaktɐ]. nickte is at rank #25,687, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnɪktə].

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 52227, this pair ranks #1,105,088 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nackter vs nickte

Shared letters: ceknt. Private to "nackter": ar. Private to "nickte": i.

"nackter" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "nickte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nackteranckter · nacckter · nacketr · nackkter · nackterr · nacktre · nacktter · nactker
  • nickteinckte · ncikte · nicckte · nicket · nickkte · nicktte · nictke · nikcte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nackter" and "nickte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nackter" is an adjective and "nickte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nackter" or "nickte"?
"nickte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,687 in our German list, against #26,540 for "nackter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "nackter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nickte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,105,088 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nackter" and "nickte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nichten vs nickte". 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 #1,105,088 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