Which to use
“wehren” and “wühlen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,444
- “wehren” frequency rank
- #30,397
- “wühlen” frequency rank
- 35841
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wehren | wühlen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich etwas/jemandem entgegensetzen; gegen etwas Widerstand leisten | meist mit technischen Hilfsmitteln im Erdboden graben |
Where the eye mixes wehren and wühlen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wehren and wühlen 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 wühlen
A purely visual mix-up. wehren ([ˈveːʁən]) and wühlen ([ˈvyːlən]) 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 35841, 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]. wühlen is at rank #30,397, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvyːlən].
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 35841, this pair ranks #1,630,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wehren vs wühlen
Shared letters: ehnw. Private to "wehren": r. Private to "wühlen": lü.
"wehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wühlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wehren ← ewhren · wehern · wehhren · wehrenn · wehrne · wehrren · werhen · wheren
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wehren" and "wühlen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "wehren" or "wühlen"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wühlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,630,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wehren" and "wühlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weilen vs wühlen". 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 #1,630,215 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.