wachtvswichstTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,011
“wacht” frequency rank
#45,699
“wichst” frequency rank
55710
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wacht wichst
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wachen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wichsen

Where the eye mixes wacht and wichst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wacht runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against wichst's 6 (CVCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
wacht
6 ch
wichst

Visual trap between wacht and wichst

A purely visual mix-up. wacht ([vaxt]) and wichst ([vɪkst]) 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 55710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wacht is recorded at frequency rank #10,011, classified as averb, pronounced [vaxt]. wichst is at rank #45,699, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪkst].

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 55710, this pair ranks #968,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wacht vs wichst

Shared letters: chtw. Private to "wacht": a. Private to "wichst": is.

"wacht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "wichst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wacht ← awcht · waccht · wachht · wachtt · wahct · wcaht · wwacht
  • wichst ← iwchst · wcihst · wicchst · wichhst · wichsst · wichstt · wichts · wihcst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wacht" and "wichst" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([vaxt] versus [vɪkst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "wacht" or "wichst" show up more?
"wacht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,011 in our German list, against #45,699 for "wichst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "wacht" and "wichst" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wacht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wichst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #968,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wacht" and "wichst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wichse vs wichst". 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 #968,865 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