weigernvsweigertWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,760
“weigern” frequency rank
#13,274
“weigert” frequency rank
32034
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weigern weigert
Definition ablehnen, etwas zu tun 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs weigern

Where the eye mixes weigern and weigert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
weigern
7 ch
weigert

Look-alike desk: weigern vs weigert

A purely visual mix-up. weigern ([ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐn]) and weigert ([ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐt]) 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 a single letter - n in “weigern” becomes t in “weigert”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weigern is recorded at frequency rank #18,760, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐn]. weigert is at rank #13,274, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐt].

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 32034, this pair ranks #1,716,063 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of weigern vs weigert

Shared letters: egirw. Private to "weigern": n. Private to "weigert": t.

"weigern" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC  ·  "weigert" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weigernewigern · wegiern · weiegrn · weigenr · weigernn · weigerrn · weiggern · weigren
  • weigertewigert · wegiert · weiegrt · weigerrt · weigertt · weigetr · weiggert · weigret

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "weigern" for "weigert" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐn] versus [ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "weigern" vs "weigert" - which ranks higher?
"weigert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,274 in our German list, against #18,760 for "weigern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "weigern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "weigert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,716,063 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "weigern" and "weigert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weigern vs weilen". 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 #1,716,063 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