Which to use
“Wachs” is a noun and “wasch” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,790
- “Wachs” frequency rank
- #22,959
- “wasch” frequency rank
- 38749
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Wachs | wasch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ester aus Fettsäuren und langkettigen Alkoholen | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs waschen |
Where the eye mixes Wachs and wasch
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Wachs and wasch follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Wachs with wasch
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wachs is [vaks] while wasch is [vaʃ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Wachs is recorded at frequency rank #15,790, classified as anoun, pronounced [vaks]. wasch is at rank #22,959, tagged as averb, pronounced [vaʃ].
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 38749, this pair ranks #1,555,627 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Wachs vs wasch
Shared letters: achsw. Private to "Wachs": -. Private to "wasch": -.
"Wachs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "wasch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Wachs" and "wasch" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Wachs" or "wasch"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Wachs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wasch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,555,627 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Wachs" and "wasch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wasch vs waste". 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 #1,555,627 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.