nicken

[ˈnɪkn̩]

/[ˈnɪkn̩]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“nicken” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #23,645. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,645
frequency rank, German
1,954
“N” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
15
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (zur Bejahung, Zustimmung, als Geste des Verstehens, als Gruß oder dergleichen) den Kopf kurz hintereinander senken und heben

Corpus desk

Index DE-nicken · nicken · German

nicken · rank #23,645 · 9 variants · 15 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,645
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 15 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,954
  • PHOTO-FINISH NGO

Nearest frequency peer: NGO (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „nicken“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „nicken“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

nicken vs Nike
50% similar
nicken vs nickt
67% similar
nicken vs Nieren
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for nicken
PropertyValue
Headwordnicken
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈnɪkn̩]
Letters6
Frequency rank#23,645
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs15
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „nicken“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.nickenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „NGO“ (#23,644), „Northeim“ (#23,646), „Neuwahl“ (#23,642). Unter 1,954 „N“-Lemmata liegt „nicken“ bei #23,645. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around nicken (IPA [ˈnɪkn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #23,645 among 1,954 “N” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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. 1
    (zur Bejahung, Zustimmung, als Geste des Verstehens, als Gruß oder dergleichen) den Kopf kurz hintereinander senken und heben
  2. 2
    etwas durch die unter [1] beschriebene Kopfbewegung ausdrücken
  3. 3
    (den Ball) mit der unter [1] beschriebenen Kopfbewegung irgendwohin köpfen
  4. 4
    (bei einigen Tieren, besonders Pferden) beim Gehen taktmäßig den Kopf senkend nach vorn strecken und hebend zurückziehen
  5. 5
    (von Fahrzeugen) sich fortbewegen und dabei gleichzeitig um die horizontale Querachse pendeln

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how nicken appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Sie nickte nur, als man sie etwas fragte.
  2. „Ich faßte mir ein Herz und fragte geradezu, ob er von den Insurgenten sei. Er nickte.“

Synonyms

nickkoppennickköppen

Antonyms

schütteln

This word in other languages

nod(English)asentir(Español)acquiescer(Français)acenar(Português)

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.

incken2nciken2niccken1nicekn2nickenn1nickken1nickne2nikcen2
Edit distance from "nicken"

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

How do you spell "nicken"?
"nicken" is spelled N-I-C-K-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈnɪkn̩].
What does "nicken" mean?
As a verb, "nicken" means: (zur Bejahung, Zustimmung, als Geste des Verstehens, als Gruß oder dergleichen) den Kopf kurz hintereinander senken und heben
What words are commonly confused with "nicken"?
"nicken" is commonly confused with "Nike", "nickt", "Nieren". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "nicken"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nicken" is [ˈnɪkn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nicken" come from?
"nicken" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "nicken", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Netzen#23,639Plugin#23,661listet#23,608robust#23,682

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Roulette9 variantsRänder9 variantsschalt9 variantskaltem9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list