wachtvswischtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,011
“wacht” frequency rank
#31,376
“wischt” frequency rank
41387
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wacht wischt
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wachen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wischen

Where the eye mixes wacht and wischt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
wacht
6 ch
wischt

Why the eye confuses wacht with wischt

A purely visual mix-up. wacht ([vaxt]) and wischt ([vɪʃt]) 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 41387, 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]. wischt is at rank #31,376, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪʃt].

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 41387, this pair ranks #1,480,966 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wacht vs wischt

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

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wachtawcht · waccht · wachht · wachtt · wahct · wcaht · wwacht
  • wischtiwscht · wicsht · wisccht · wischht · wischtt · wiscth · wishct · wisscht

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "wacht" and "wischt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([vaxt] versus [vɪʃt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "wacht" vs "wischt" - which ranks higher?
"wacht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,011 in our German list, against #31,376 for "wischt". 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 "wischt" 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 "wischt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,480,966 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wacht" and "wischt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wischt vs witch". 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 #1,480,966 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