gerügtvsgewagtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#44,645
“gerügt” frequency rank
#9,918
“gewagt” frequency rank
54563
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gerügt gewagt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs rügen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs wagen

Where the eye mixes gerügt and gewagt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gerügt and gewagt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
gerügt
6 ch
gewagt

Visual trap between gerügt and gewagt

A purely visual mix-up. gerügt ([ɡəˈʁyːkt]) and gewagt ([ɡəˈvaːkt]) 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 54563, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gerügt is recorded at frequency rank #44,645, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʁyːkt]. gewagt is at rank #9,918, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈvaːkt].

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 54563, this pair ranks #1,013,962 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gerügt vs gewagt

Shared letters: egt. Private to "gerügt": . Private to "gewagt": aw.

"gerügt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "gewagt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gewagtegwagt · geawgt · gewaggt · gewagtt · gewatg · gewgat · gewwagt · ggewagt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gerügt" and "gewagt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʁyːkt] versus [ɡəˈvaːkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gerügt" or "gewagt"?
"gewagt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,918 in our German list, against #44,645 for "gerügt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gerügt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gewagt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,013,962 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gerügt" and "gewagt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gerügt vs gesaugt". 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 #1,013,962 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