Which to use
“weilen” and “wühlen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,125
- “weilen” frequency rank
- #30,397
- “wühlen” frequency rank
- 77522
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weilen | wühlen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich an einem Ort aufhalten, an einem Ort bleiben | meist mit technischen Hilfsmitteln im Erdboden graben |
Where the eye mixes weilen and wühlen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. weilen (CVVCVC) and wühlen (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses weilen with wühlen
A purely visual mix-up. weilen ([ˈvaɪ̯lən]) and wühlen ([ˈvyːlən]) 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 77522, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
weilen is recorded at frequency rank #47,125, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯lən]. wühlen is at rank #30,397, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvyːlən].
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 77522, this pair ranks #258,874 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of weilen vs wühlen
Shared letters: elnw. Private to "weilen": i. Private to "wühlen": hü.
"weilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "wühlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- weilen ← ewilen · weieln · weilenn · weillen · weilne · welien · wielen · wweilen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "weilen" and "wühlen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "weilen" or "wühlen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "weilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wühlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #258,874 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "weilen" and "wühlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weilen vs Weines". 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 #258,874 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.