Which to use
“wahllos” and “wehrlos” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,231
- “wahllos” frequency rank
- #35,549
- “wehrlos” frequency rank
- 61780
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wahllos | wehrlos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ohne Überlegung, ohne bestimmte Auswahl oder Ordnung | sich nicht wehren könnend; unfähig, sich zu verteidigen |
Where the eye mixes wahllos and wehrlos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. wahllos and wehrlos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: wahllos vs wehrlos
A purely visual mix-up. wahllos ([ˈvaːlloːs]) and wehrlos ([ˈveːɐ̯loːs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wahllos is recorded at frequency rank #26,231, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaːlloːs]. wehrlos is at rank #35,549, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈveːɐ̯loːs].
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 61780, this pair ranks #736,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wahllos vs wehrlos
Shared letters: hlosw. Private to "wahllos": a. Private to "wehrlos": er.
"wahllos" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "wehrlos" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wahllos" for "wehrlos" ever safe?
Frequency check: "wahllos" vs "wehrlos" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "wahllos" and "wehrlos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wahllos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wehrlos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #736,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wahllos" and "wehrlos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wehrlos vs wertlos". 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 #736,993 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.