Which to use
“wehren” and “wirren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,444
- “wehren” frequency rank
- #20,796
- “wirren” frequency rank
- 26240
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wehren | wirren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich etwas/jemandem entgegensetzen; gegen etwas Widerstand leisten | wirr durcheinander wogen |
Where the eye mixes wehren and wirren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wehren and wirren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between wehren and wirren
A purely visual mix-up. wehren ([ˈveːʁən]) and wirren ([ˈvɪʁən]) 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 26240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wehren is recorded at frequency rank #5,444, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈveːʁən]. wirren is at rank #20,796, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪʁən].
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 26240, this pair ranks #1,821,105 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wehren vs wirren
Shared letters: enrw. Private to "wehren": h. Private to "wirren": i.
"wehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wirren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wehren" and "wirren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "wehren" or "wirren" show up more?
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 "wehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wirren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,821,105 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wehren" and "wirren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wirren vs wirres". 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 #1,821,105 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.