Which to use
“wehrlos” and “wertlos” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,549
- “wehrlos” frequency rank
- #15,525
- “wertlos” frequency rank
- 51074
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wehrlos | wertlos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich nicht wehren könnend; unfähig, sich zu verteidigen | ohne Wert, keinen Wert habend |
Where the eye mixes wehrlos and wertlos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. wehrlos and wertlos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: wehrlos vs wertlos
A purely visual mix-up. wehrlos ([ˈveːɐ̯loːs]) and wertlos ([ˈveːɐ̯tˌloːs]) 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 51074, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wehrlos is recorded at frequency rank #35,549, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈveːɐ̯loːs]. wertlos is at rank #15,525, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈveːɐ̯tˌloːs].
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 51074, this pair ranks #1,149,506 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wehrlos vs wertlos
Shared letters: elorsw. Private to "wehrlos": h. Private to "wertlos": t.
"wehrlos" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "wertlos" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wehrlos" for "wertlos" ever safe?
Frequency check: "wehrlos" vs "wertlos" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wehrlos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wertlos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,149,506 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wehrlos" and "wertlos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wahllos vs wehrlos". 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 #1,149,506 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.