Which to use
“Virus” and “Voraus” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,083
- “Virus” frequency rank
- #2,370
- “Voraus” frequency rank
- 6453
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Virus | Voraus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | kleinster Krankheitserreger, der sich nur in Zellen vermehren kann | Erbe (Nachlass), das vor Eintritt des Todes an den Erben übertragen wird |
Where the eye mixes Virus and Voraus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Virus with Voraus
A purely visual mix-up. Virus ([ˈviːʁʊs]) and Voraus ([foˈʁaʊ̯s]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Virus is recorded at frequency rank #4,083, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈviːʁʊs]. Voraus is at rank #2,370, tagged as anoun, pronounced [foˈʁaʊ̯s].
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 6453, this pair ranks #1,991,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Virus vs Voraus
Shared letters: rsuv. Private to "Virus": i. Private to "Voraus": ao.
"Virus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Voraus" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Virus" and "Voraus" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Virus" vs "Voraus" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Virus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Voraus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,991,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Virus" and "Voraus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Voraus vs Vorbau". 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 #1,991,593 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.