WeiservsWeitenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,602
“Weiser” frequency rank
#4,577
“Weiten” frequency rank
21179
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weiser Weiten
Definition Mensch mit hoher (sozialer) Kompetenz oder großem Sachverstand Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Weite

Where the eye mixes Weiser and Weiten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Weiser
6 ch
Weiten

Visual trap between Weiser and Weiten

A purely visual mix-up. Weiser ([ˈvaɪ̯zɐ]) and Weiten ([ˈvaɪ̯tn̩]) 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 21179, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weiser is recorded at frequency rank #16,602, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯zɐ]. Weiten is at rank #4,577, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯tn̩].

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 21179, this pair ranks #1,889,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Weiser vs Weiten

Shared letters: eiw. Private to "Weiser": rs. Private to "Weiten": nt.

"Weiser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Weiten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weiserewiser · weiesr · weiserr · weisre · weisser · wesier · wieser · wweiser
  • Weitenewiten · weietn · weitenn · weitne · weitten · wetien · wieten · wweiten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Weiser" for "Weiten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯zɐ] versus [ˈvaɪ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Weiser" vs "Weiten" - which ranks higher?
"Weiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,577 in our German list, against #16,602 for "Weiser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Weiser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Weiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,889,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weiser" and "Weiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weiser vs writer". 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 #1,889,269 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