Which to use
“Wachs” is a noun and “wuchs” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,790
- “Wachs” frequency rank
- #5,899
- “wuchs” frequency rank
- 21689
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Wachs | wuchs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ester aus Fettsäuren und langkettigen Alkoholen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wachsen |
Where the eye mixes Wachs and wuchs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Wachs and wuchs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wachs is [vaks] while wuchs is [vuːks]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “Wachs” becomes u in “wuchs”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21689, 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]. wuchs is at rank #5,899, tagged as averb, pronounced [vuːks].
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 21689, this pair ranks #1,883,281 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Wachs vs wuchs
Shared letters: chsw. Private to "Wachs": a. Private to "wuchs": u.
"Wachs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "wuchs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Wachs" and "wuchs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Wachs" or "wuchs" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Wachs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wuchs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,883,281 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Wachs" and "wuchs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wachs vs Wracks". 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 #1,883,281 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.