Which to use
“Wahn” is a noun and “wau” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,521
- “Wahn” frequency rank
- #39,137
- “wau” frequency rank
- 54658
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Wahn | wau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | falsche Vorstellung | Laut, der beim Bellen eines Hundes entsteht |
Where the eye mixes Wahn and wau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Wahn runs 4 letters (CVCC) against wau's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Wahn and wau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wahn is [vaːn] while wau is [vaʊ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Wahn is recorded at frequency rank #15,521, classified as anoun, pronounced [vaːn]. wau is at rank #39,137, tagged as anintj, pronounced [vaʊ̯].
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 54658, this pair ranks #1,010,212 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Wahn vs wau
Shared letters: aw. Private to "Wahn": hn. Private to "wau": u.
"Wahn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "wau" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Wahn ← awhn · wahhn · wahnn · wanh · whan · wwahn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Wahn" for "wau" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Wahn" or "wau" show up more?
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 "Wahn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,010,212 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Wahn" and "wau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wau vs wig". 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 #1,010,212 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.