Which to use
“Weihe” is a noun and “welke” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,789
- “Weihe” frequency rank
- #47,128
- “welke” frequency rank
- 67917
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Weihe | welke |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Heiligung, Aufwertung einer Person oder Sache durch eine rituelle Zeremonie | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs welk |
Where the eye mixes Weihe and welke
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Weihe (CVVCV) and welke (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: Weihe vs welke
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Weihe is [ˈvaɪ̯ə] while welke is [ˈvɛlkə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67917, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Weihe is recorded at frequency rank #20,789, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯ə]. welke is at rank #47,128, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɛlkə].
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 67917, this pair ranks #524,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Weihe vs welke
Shared letters: ew. Private to "Weihe": hi. Private to "welke": kl.
"Weihe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "welke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Weihe" for "welke" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Weihe" or "welke" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Weihe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "welke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #524,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Weihe" and "welke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wehte vs welke". 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 #524,553 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.