WalzevswildeConfusable pair

Quick tell: Walze is a noun, wilde is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Walze” is a noun and “wilde” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,133
“Walze” frequency rank
#4,668
“wilde” frequency rank
43801
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Walze wilde
Definition 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 Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs wild

Where the eye mixes Walze and wilde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Walze
5 ch
wilde

Visual trap between Walze and wilde

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Walze is [ˈvalt͡sə] while wilde is [ˈvɪldə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43801, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Walze is recorded at frequency rank #39,133, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvalt͡sə]. wilde is at rank #4,668, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪldə].

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 43801, this pair ranks #1,406,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Walze vs wilde

Shared letters: elw. Private to "Walze": az. Private to "wilde": di.

"Walze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "wilde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Walzeawlze · walez · wallze · walzze · wazle · wlaze · wwalze
  • wildeiwlde · widle · wildde · wiled · willde · wlide · wwilde

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Walze" for "wilde" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Walze" is a noun and "wilde" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Walze" or "wilde"?
"wilde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,668 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

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Walze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wilde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,406,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Walze" and "wilde" 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 #1,406,562 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