gewagtevsGewaltTell them apart

Quick tell: gewagte is a adjective, Gewalt is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gewagte” is an adjective and “Gewalt” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,141
“gewagte” frequency rank
#1,082
“Gewalt” frequency rank
39223
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gewagte Gewalt
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gewagt erhebliche oder übermäßige Kraft, dies bei gezieltem Tun gegen Widerstände, oft ohne Legitimation

Where the eye mixes gewagte and Gewalt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
gewagte
6 ch
Gewalt

Why the eye confuses gewagte with Gewalt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gewagte is [ɡəˈvaːktə] while Gewalt is [ɡəˈvalt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gewagte is recorded at frequency rank #38,141, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈvaːktə]. Gewalt is at rank #1,082, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈvalt].

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 39223, this pair ranks #1,542,674 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gewagte vs Gewalt

Shared letters: aegtw. Private to "gewagte": -. Private to "Gewalt": l.

"gewagte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "Gewalt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gewagteegwagte · geawgte · gewaget · gewaggte · gewagtte · gewatge · gewgate · gewwagte
  • Gewaltegwalt · geawlt · gewallt · gewaltt · gewatl · gewlat · gewwalt · ggewalt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gewagte" and "Gewalt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gewagte" is an adjective and "Gewalt" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gewagte" or "Gewalt"?
"Gewalt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,082 in our German list, against #38,141 for "gewagte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gewagte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gewalt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,542,674 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gewagte" and "Gewalt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefragte vs gewagte". 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 #1,542,674 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