Which to use
“nicken” and “nickte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,645
- “nicken” frequency rank
- #25,687
- “nickte” frequency rank
- 49332
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nicken | nickte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (zur Bejahung, Zustimmung, als Geste des Verstehens, als Gruß oder dergleichen) den Kopf kurz hintereinander senken und heben | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs nicken |
Where the eye mixes nicken and nickte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses nicken with nickte
A purely visual mix-up. nicken ([ˈnɪkn̩]) and nickte ([ˈnɪktə]) 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 49332, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nicken is recorded at frequency rank #23,645, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnɪkn̩]. 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 49332, this pair ranks #1,215,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nicken vs nickte
Shared letters: ceikn. Private to "nicken": -. Private to "nickte": t.
"nicken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "nickte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "nicken" and "nickte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "nicken" or "nickte"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "nicken" 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 #1,215,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nicken" and "nickte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nicken vs Nissen". 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 #1,215,486 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.