Which to use
“weich” and “weise” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,487
- “weich” frequency rank
- #740
- “weise” frequency rank
- 7227
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weich | weise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ohne großen Kraftaufwand plastisch verformbar | reich an Wissen und Lebenserfahrung |
Where the eye mixes weich and weise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between weich and weise
A purely visual mix-up. weich ([vaɪ̯ç]) and weise ([ˈvaɪ̯zə]) 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 7227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
weich is recorded at frequency rank #6,487, classified as anadj, pronounced [vaɪ̯ç]. weise is at rank #740, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯zə].
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 7227, this pair ranks #1,988,942 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of weich vs weise
Shared letters: eiw. Private to "weich": ch. Private to "weise": s.
"weich" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "weise" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "weich" for "weise" ever safe?
Frequency check: "weich" vs "weise" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "weich" and "weise" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "weich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "weise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,988,942 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "weich" and "weise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weich vs Weins". 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 #1,988,942 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.