Which to use
“wanken” and “winken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,833
- “wanken” frequency rank
- #16,881
- “winken” frequency rank
- 42714
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wanken | winken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hin und her neigen, in der Gefahr zu kippen | zur Begrüßung, zum Abschied oder, um Aufmerksamkeit zu erregen, mit der Hand in der Luft wedeln |
Where the eye mixes wanken and winken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: wanken vs winken
A purely visual mix-up. wanken ([ˈvaŋkn̩]) and winken ([ˈvɪŋkn̩]) 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 a single letter - a in “wanken” becomes i in “winken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wanken is recorded at frequency rank #25,833, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaŋkn̩]. winken is at rank #16,881, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪŋkn̩].
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 42714, this pair ranks #1,440,844 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wanken vs winken
Shared letters: eknw. Private to "wanken": a. Private to "winken": i.
"wanken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "winken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wanken" and "winken" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "wanken" or "winken" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "wanken" and "winken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wanken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "winken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,440,844 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wanken" and "winken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wanken vs warnten". 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 #1,440,844 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.