nicken
[ˈnɪkn̩]
The verdict
“nicken” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #23,645 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #23,645
- frequency rank, German
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - (zur Bejahung, Zustimmung, als Geste des Verstehens, als Gruß oder dergleichen) den Kopf kurz hintereinander senken und heben
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | nicken |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈnɪkn̩] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #23,645 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nicken” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for nicken is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈnɪkn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #23,645 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for nicken, with forms such as "incken", "nciken", and "niccken". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "Nike", "nickt", "Nieren", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is nicken, spelled N-I-C-K-E-N.
Definition
- 1(zur Bejahung, Zustimmung, als Geste des Verstehens, als Gruß oder dergleichen) den Kopf kurz hintereinander senken und heben
- 2etwas durch die unter [1] beschriebene Kopfbewegung ausdrücken
- 3(den Ball) mit der unter [1] beschriebenen Kopfbewegung irgendwohin köpfen
- 4(bei einigen Tieren, besonders Pferden) beim Gehen taktmäßig den Kopf senkend nach vorn strecken und hebend zurückziehen
- 5(von Fahrzeugen) sich fortbewegen und dabei gleichzeitig um die horizontale Querachse pendeln
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: incken,nciken,niccken,nicekn,nickenn,nickken,nickne,nikcen,nnicken
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nicken - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “nicken”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is N-I-C-K-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈnɪkn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Nike” - see the side-by-side comparison. nicken vs Nike
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.