Which to use
“wahrhaft” and “wahrhaftig” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,784
- “wahrhaft” frequency rank
- #21,479
- “wahrhaftig” frequency rank
- 42263
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wahrhaft | wahrhaftig |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | wirklich, tatsächlich, unzweifelhaft | wahr, nach Wahrheit strebend, sich um Wahrheit bemühend |
Where the eye mixes wahrhaft and wahrhaftig
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. wahrhaft runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCC) against wahrhaftig's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: wahrhaft vs wahrhaftig
A purely visual mix-up. wahrhaft ([ˈvaːɐ̯haft]) and wahrhaftig ([vaːɐ̯ˈhaftɪç]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “wahrhaft” sits inside “wahrhaftig”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wahrhaft is recorded at frequency rank #20,784, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaːɐ̯haft]. wahrhaftig is at rank #21,479, tagged as anadj, pronounced [vaːɐ̯ˈhaftɪç].
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 42263, this pair ranks #1,454,790 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wahrhaft vs wahrhaftig
Shared letters: afhrtw. Private to "wahrhaft": -. Private to "wahrhaftig": gi.
"wahrhaft" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC · "wahrhaftig" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wahrhaft ← awhrhaft · wahhraft · wahhrhaft · wahrahft · wahrhafft · wahrhaftt · wahrhatf · wahrhfat
- wahrhaftig ← awhrhaftig · wahhraftig · wahhrhaftig · wahrahftig · wahrhafftig · wahrhafitg · wahrhaftgi · wahrhaftigg
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wahrhaft" for "wahrhaftig" ever safe?
Which is more common, "wahrhaft" or "wahrhaftig"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "wahrhaft" and "wahrhaftig" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wahrhaft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wahrhaftig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,454,790 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wahrhaft" and "wahrhaftig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wahrhaft vs wohnhaft". 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 #1,454,790 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.