Which to use
“public” and “publik” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,522
- “public” frequency rank
- #25,721
- “publik” frequency rank
- 31243
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | public | publik |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | öffentlich | allgemein bekannt |
Where the eye mixes public and publik
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. public and publik follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between public and publik
A purely visual mix-up. public ([ˈpʌblɪk]) and publik ([puˈbliːk]) 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 a single letter - c in “public” becomes k in “publik”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31243, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
public is recorded at frequency rank #5,522, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpʌblɪk]. publik is at rank #25,721, tagged as anadj, pronounced [puˈbliːk].
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 31243, this pair ranks #1,731,991 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of public vs publik
Shared letters: bilpu. Private to "public": c. Private to "publik": k.
"public" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "publik" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "public" and "publik" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "public" vs "publik" - which ranks higher?
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 "public" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "publik" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,731,991 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "public" and "publik" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "publik vs Pullis". 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 #1,731,991 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.