WarnervsWärterTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,759
“Warner” frequency rank
#33,922
“Wärter” frequency rank
52681
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Warner Wärter
Definition Person, die andere dazu auffordert, sich vor drohenden unerwünschten Folgen in Acht zu nehmen Person, die etwas beaufsichtigt oder bewacht

Where the eye mixes Warner and Wärter

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

6 ch
Warner
6 ch
Wärter

Look-alike desk: Warner vs Wärter

A purely visual mix-up. Warner ([ˈvaʁnɐ]) and Wärter ([ˈvɛʁtɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Warner is recorded at frequency rank #18,759, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaʁnɐ]. Wärter is at rank #33,922, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛʁtɐ].

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 52681, this pair ranks #1,087,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Warner vs Wärter

Shared letters: erw. Private to "Warner": an. Private to "Wärter": .

"Warner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Wärter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Warnerawrner · wanrer · warenr · warnerr · warnner · warnre · warrner · wraner

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Warner" for "Wärter" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaʁnɐ] versus [ˈvɛʁtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Warner" or "Wärter"?
"Warner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,759 in our German list, against #33,922 for "Wärter". 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 "Warner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wärter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,087,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Warner" and "Wärter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wärter vs writer". 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 #1,087,390 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