WalkervsWalzeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,969
“Walker” frequency rank
#39,133
“Walze” frequency rank
48102
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Walker Walze
Definition Beruf in der Textilproduktion: Person, die Stoffe walkt. runder und sehr breiter, sehr schwerer Maschinenteil der Dampfwalze oder Straßenwalze, der vorn angenietet wird und dessen Einsatz im Straßenbau vorkommt, um Kies und andere kleine Steine zu zerdrücken und so die Oberfläche zu glätten

Where the eye mixes Walker and Walze

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

6 ch
Walker
5 ch
Walze

Visual trap between Walker and Walze

A purely visual mix-up. Walker ([ˈvalkɐ]) and Walze ([ˈvalt͡sə]) 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 48102, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Walker is recorded at frequency rank #8,969, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvalkɐ]. Walze is at rank #39,133, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvalt͡sə].

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 48102, this pair ranks #1,260,773 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Walker vs Walze

Shared letters: aelw. Private to "Walker": kr. Private to "Walze": z.

"Walker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Walze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Walkerawlker · wakler · walekr · walkerr · walkker · walkre · wallker · wlaker
  • Walzeawlze · walez · wallze · walzze · wazle · wlaze · wwalze

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Walker" and "Walze" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvalkɐ] versus [ˈvalt͡sə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Walker" or "Walze" show up more?
"Walker" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,969 in our German list, against #39,133 for "Walze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Walker" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Walze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,260,773 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Walker" and "Walze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Walze vs waste". 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 #1,260,773 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