ReckevsRocksConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#41,415
“Recke” frequency rank
#31,758
“Rocks” frequency rank
73173
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Recke Rocks
Definition ungeschlachter, riesenhafter Krieger, Held aus Sagen Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Rock

Where the eye mixes Recke and Rocks

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Recke (CVCCV) and Rocks (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Recke
5 ch
Rocks

Why the eye confuses Recke with Rocks

A purely visual mix-up. Recke ([ˈʁɛkə]) and Rocks ([ʁɔks]) 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 73173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Recke is recorded at frequency rank #41,415, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁɛkə]. Rocks is at rank #31,758, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁɔks].

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 73173, this pair ranks #367,729 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Recke vs Rocks

Shared letters: ckr. Private to "Recke": e. Private to "Rocks": os.

"Recke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Rocks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Recke ← ercke · rceke · reccke · recek · reckke · rekce · rrecke
  • Rocks ← orcks · rcoks · roccks · rockks · rockss · rocsk · rokcs · rrocks

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Recke" and "Rocks" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁɛkə] versus [ʁɔks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Recke" or "Rocks" show up more?
"Rocks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,758 in our German list, against #41,415 for "Recke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Recke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rocks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #367,729 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Recke" and "Rocks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rack vs Recke". 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 #367,729 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