warstvswashWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,092
“warst” frequency rank
#44,357
“wash” frequency rank
47449
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature warst wash
Definition 2. Person Singular Präteritum Indikativ des Verbs sein waschen, säubern

Where the eye mixes warst and wash

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

5 ch
warst
4 ch
wash

Visual trap between warst and wash

A purely visual mix-up. warst ([vaːɐ̯st]) and wash ([wɒʃ]) 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 47449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

warst is recorded at frequency rank #3,092, classified as averb, pronounced [vaːɐ̯st]. wash is at rank #44,357, tagged as averb, pronounced [wɒʃ].

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 47449, this pair ranks #1,283,821 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of warst vs wash

Shared letters: asw. Private to "warst": rt. Private to "wash": h.

"warst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "wash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • warstawrst · warrst · warsst · warstt · warts · wasrt · wrast · wwarst
  • washawsh · wahs · washh · wassh · wsah · wwash

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "warst" for "wash" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([vaːɐ̯st] versus [wɒʃ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "warst" vs "wash" - which ranks higher?
"warst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,092 in our German list, against #44,357 for "wash". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "warst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wash" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,283,821 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "warst" and "wash" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wash 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 #1,283,821 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