WeicheivsWeilchenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#43,631
“Weichei” frequency rank
#33,392
“Weilchen” frequency rank
77023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weichei Weilchen
Definition verweichlichter, unmännlicher, weibischer oder übervorsichtiger Mann unbestimmte, meist kurze Zeitspanne

Where the eye mixes Weichei and Weilchen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Weichei runs 7 letters (CVVCCVV) against Weilchen's 8 (CVVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Weichei
8 ch
Weilchen

Visual trap between Weichei and Weilchen

A purely visual mix-up. Weichei ([ˈvaɪ̯çʔaɪ̯]) and Weilchen ([ˈvaɪ̯lçən]) 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 77023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weichei is recorded at frequency rank #43,631, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯çʔaɪ̯]. Weilchen is at rank #33,392, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯lçən].

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 77023, this pair ranks #270,313 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Weichei vs Weilchen

Shared letters: cehiw. Private to "Weichei": -. Private to "Weilchen": ln.

"Weichei" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVV  ·  "Weilchen" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weichei ← ewichei · wecihei · weicchei · weicehi · weichhei · weichie · weihcei · wiechei
  • Weilchen ← ewilchen · weiclhen · weilcchen · weilcehn · weilchenn · weilchhen · weilchne · weilhcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Weichei" for "Weilchen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯çʔaɪ̯] versus [ˈvaɪ̯lçən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Weichei" or "Weilchen"?
"Weilchen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,392 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.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Weichei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Weilchen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #270,313 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weichei" and "Weilchen" 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 #270,313 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