weistvswisstWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,275
“weist” frequency rank
#3,497
“wisst” frequency rank
5772
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weist wisst
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs weisen 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wissen

Where the eye mixes weist and wisst

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

5 ch
weist
5 ch
wisst

Visual trap between weist and wisst

A purely visual mix-up. weist ([vaɪ̯st]) and wisst ([vɪst]) 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 5772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weist is recorded at frequency rank #2,275, classified as averb, pronounced [vaɪ̯st]. wisst is at rank #3,497, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪst].

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 5772, this pair ranks #1,993,771 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of weist vs wisst

Shared letters: istw. Private to "weist": e. Private to "wisst": -.

"weist" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "wisst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weistewist · weisst · weistt · weits · wesit · wiest · wweist
  • wisstiwsst · wisstt · wist · wists · wißt · wsist · wwisst

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "weist" for "wisst" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([vaɪ̯st] versus [vɪst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "weist" vs "wisst" - which ranks higher?
"weist" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,275 in our German list, against #3,497 for "wisst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "weist" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wisst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,993,771 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "weist" and "wisst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weist vs went". 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 #1,993,771 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