WehvsWokWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,474
“Weh” frequency rank
#42,270
“Wok” frequency rank
44744
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weh Wok
Definition seelischer Schmerz chinesische Form der Pfanne, ähnelt eher einer großen Metallschüssel

Where the eye mixes Weh and Wok

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
Weh
3 ch
Wok

Visual trap between Weh and Wok

A purely visual mix-up. Weh ([veː]) and Wok ([vɔk]) 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 44744, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weh is recorded at frequency rank #2,474, classified as anoun, pronounced [veː]. Wok is at rank #42,270, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vɔk].

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 44744, this pair ranks #1,376,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Weh vs Wok

Shared letters: w. Private to "Weh": eh. Private to "Wok": ko.

"Weh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Wok" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Weh" for "Wok" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([veː] versus [vɔk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Weh" or "Wok"?
"Weh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,474 in our German list, against #42,270 for "Wok". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Weh" and "Wok" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Weh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wok" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,376,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weh" and "Wok" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wig vs Wok". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,376,170 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