WeichevsWeicheiWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,485
“Weiche” frequency rank
#43,631
“Weichei” frequency rank
53116
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weiche Weichei
Definition weiche Beschaffenheit verweichlichter, unmännlicher, weibischer oder übervorsichtiger Mann

Where the eye mixes Weiche and Weichei

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Weiche runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against Weichei's 7 (CVVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Weiche
7 ch
Weichei

Look-alike desk: Weiche vs Weichei

A purely visual mix-up. Weiche ([ˈvaɪ̯çə]) and Weichei ([ˈvaɪ̯çʔaɪ̯]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Weiche” sits inside “Weichei”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53116, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weiche is recorded at frequency rank #9,485, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯çə]. Weichei is at rank #43,631, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯çʔaɪ̯].

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 53116, this pair ranks #1,070,582 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Weiche vs Weichei

Shared letters: cehiw. Private to "Weiche": -. Private to "Weichei": -.

"Weiche" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "Weichei" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weiche ← ewiche · wecihe · weicche · weiceh · weichhe · weihce · wieche · wweiche
  • Weichei ← ewichei · wecihei · weicchei · weicehi · weichhei · weichie · weihcei · wiechei

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Weiche" for "Weichei" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯çə] versus [ˈvaɪ̯çʔaɪ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Weiche" vs "Weichei" - which ranks higher?
"Weiche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,485 in our German list, against #43,631 for "Weichei". 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 "Weiche" and "Weichei" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Weiche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Weichei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,070,582 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weiche" and "Weichei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weichei vs Weicheier". 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 #1,070,582 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