Which to use
“Pickel” is a noun and “picken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,697
- “Pickel” frequency rank
- #45,512
- “picken” frequency rank
- 66209
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Pickel | picken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eitrig entzündete Erhebung der Haut | mit dem Schnabel auf etwas einhacken, insbesondere Futterkörner |
Where the eye mixes Pickel and picken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Pickel and picken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Pickel and picken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pickel is [ˈpɪkl̩] while picken is [ˈpɪkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “Pickel” becomes n in “picken”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66209, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Pickel is recorded at frequency rank #20,697, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɪkl̩]. picken is at rank #45,512, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpɪkn̩].
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 66209, this pair ranks #580,902 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Pickel vs picken
Shared letters: ceikp. Private to "Pickel": l. Private to "picken": n.
"Pickel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "picken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Pickel" for "picken" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Pickel" or "picken"?
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 "Pickel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "picken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #580,902 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Pickel" and "picken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "picken vs Pinken". 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 #580,902 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.