Which to use
“wau” and “wow” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,137
- “wau” frequency rank
- #1,685
- “wow” frequency rank
- 40822
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wau | wow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Laut, der beim Bellen eines Hundes entsteht | Ausdruck des Erstaunens |
Same sound, different letters: wau vs wow
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 1 letter.
Homophone desk: wau vs wow
This is the hard kind. wau and wow are pronounced identically ([vaʊ̯]) and both work as anintj. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wau is recorded at frequency rank #39,137, classified as anintj, pronounced [vaʊ̯]. wow is at rank #1,685, tagged as anintj, pronounced [vaʊ̯].
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 40822, this pair ranks #1,497,277 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wau vs wow
Shared letters: w. Private to "wau": au. Private to "wow": o.
"wau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "wow" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wau" and "wow" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "wau" or "wow"?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "wau" / "wow". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "wau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,497,277 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wau" and "wow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wau vs wig". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,497,277 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.