WeibvswigTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,691
“Weib” frequency rank
#46,402
“wig” frequency rank
54093
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weib wig
Definition verächtliche Bezeichnung für eine Frau die Perücke

Where the eye mixes Weib and wig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Weib
3 ch
wig

Look-alike desk: Weib vs wig

A purely visual mix-up. Weib ([vaɪ̯p]) and wig ([wɪɡ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54093, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weib is recorded at frequency rank #7,691, classified as anoun, pronounced [vaɪ̯p]. wig is at rank #46,402, tagged as anoun, pronounced [wɪɡ].

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 54093, this pair ranks #1,032,388 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Weib vs wig

Shared letters: iw. Private to "Weib": be. Private to "wig": g.

"Weib" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "wig" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weibewib · webi · weibb · wieb · wweib

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Weib" for "wig" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([vaɪ̯p] versus [wɪɡ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Weib" vs "wig" - which ranks higher?
"Weib" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,691 in our German list, against #46,402 for "wig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Weib" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,032,388 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weib" and "wig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wig vs wit". 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 #1,032,388 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