Which to use
“Pickel” and “Pocken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,697
- “Pickel” frequency rank
- #34,854
- “Pocken” frequency rank
- 55551
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Pickel | Pocken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eitrig entzündete Erhebung der Haut | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pocke |
Where the eye mixes Pickel and Pocken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Pickel and Pocken 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 Pocken
A purely visual mix-up. Pickel ([ˈpɪkl̩]) and Pocken ([ˈpɔkn̩]) 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 55551, 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]. Pocken is at rank #34,854, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɔkn̩].
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 55551, this pair ranks #975,197 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Pickel vs Pocken
Shared letters: cekp. Private to "Pickel": il. Private to "Pocken": no.
"Pickel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Pocken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Pickel" and "Pocken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Pickel" or "Pocken" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Pickel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Pocken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #975,197 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Pickel" and "Pocken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "picken vs Pocken". 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 #975,197 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.