pigvsPikeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#48,384
“pig” frequency rank
#32,209
“Pike” frequency rank
80593
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pig Pike
Definition Schwein eine Stangenwaffe von Fußsoldaten

Where the eye mixes pig and Pike

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. pig runs 3 letters (CVC) against Pike's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
pig
4 ch
Pike

Look-alike desk: pig vs Pike

A purely visual mix-up. pig ([pɪɡ]) and Pike ([ˈpiːkə]) 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 80593, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pig is recorded at frequency rank #48,384, classified as anoun, pronounced [pɪɡ]. Pike is at rank #32,209, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpiːkə].

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 80593, this pair ranks #192,517 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pig vs Pike

Shared letters: ip. Private to "pig": g. Private to "Pike": ek.

"pig" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Pike" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pike ← ipke · piek · pikke · pkie · ppike

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pig" for "Pike" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([pɪɡ] versus [ˈpiːkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pig" vs "Pike" - which ranks higher?
"Pike" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,209 in our German list, against #48,384 for "pig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pike" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #192,517 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pig" and "Pike" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pig vs PMS". 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 #192,517 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