waltzvsWalzTell them apart

Which to use

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

#35,544
“waltz” frequency rank
#33,902
“Walz” frequency rank
69446
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature waltz Walz
Definition langsamer Gesellschaftstanz im Dreivierteltakt; English Waltz, langsamer Walzer Wanderschaft, auf die sich Handwerksgesellen nach der Ausbildung traditionell begeben

Same sound, different letters: waltz vs Walz

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. waltz runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against Walz's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
waltz
4 ch
Walz

Homophone desk: waltz vs Walz

This is the hard kind. waltz and Walz are pronounced identically ([valt͡s]) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69446, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

waltz is recorded at frequency rank #35,544, classified as anoun, pronounced [valt͡s]. Walz is at rank #33,902, tagged as anoun, pronounced [valt͡s].

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 69446, this pair ranks #476,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of waltz vs Walz

Shared letters: alwz. Private to "waltz": t. Private to "Walz": -.

"waltz" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Walz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • waltz ← awltz · walltz · walttz · waltzz · walzt · watlz · wlatz · wwaltz
  • Walz ← awlz · wallz · walzz · wazl · wlaz · wwalz

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "waltz" and "Walz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same ([valt͡s]), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "waltz" vs "Walz" - which ranks higher?
"Walz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,902 in our German list, against #35,544 for "waltz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "waltz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Walz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #476,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "waltz" and "Walz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "waltz 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 #476,392 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