MikrowellevsMikrowellenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,782
“Mikrowelle” frequency rank
#41,994
“Mikrowellen” frequency rank
58776
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mikrowelle Mikrowellen
Definition Spektrum der elektromagnetischen Wellen von 30 cm bis zu 1 mm Wellenlänge (1 bis 300 GHz), wovon der Bereich um 2,4 GHz zur Wärmeerzeugung eingesetzt wird. Weitere Anwendungsgebiete für Mikrowellen sind Mobilfunk, Radar, Satellitenrundfunk und WLAN Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Mikrowelle

Where the eye mixes Mikrowelle and Mikrowellen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. Mikrowelle runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCCV) against Mikrowellen's 11 (CVCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
Mikrowelle
11 ch
Mikrowellen

Why the eye confuses Mikrowelle with Mikrowellen

A purely visual mix-up. Mikrowelle ([ˈmiːkʁoˌvɛlə]) and Mikrowellen ([ˈmiːkʁoˌvɛlən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Mikrowelle” sits inside “Mikrowellen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58776, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mikrowelle is recorded at frequency rank #16,782, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmiːkʁoˌvɛlə]. Mikrowellen is at rank #41,994, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmiːkʁoˌvɛlən].

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 58776, this pair ranks #849,783 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Mikrowelle vs Mikrowellen

Shared letters: eiklmorw. Private to "Mikrowelle": -. Private to "Mikrowellen": n.

"Mikrowelle" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV  ·  "Mikrowellen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mikrowelle ← imkrowelle · mikkrowelle · mikorwelle · mikroewlle · mikrowele · mikrowelel · mikrowlele · mikrowwelle
  • Mikrowellen ← imkrowellen · mikkrowellen · mikorwellen · mikroewllen · mikroweleln · mikrowelen · mikrowellenn · mikrowellne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Mikrowelle" and "Mikrowellen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmiːkʁoˌvɛlə] versus [ˈmiːkʁoˌvɛlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Mikrowelle" or "Mikrowellen"?
"Mikrowelle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,782 in our German list, against #41,994 for "Mikrowellen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mikrowelle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mikrowellen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #849,783 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #849,783 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