WeitevsWitzeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,783
“Weite” frequency rank
#4,478
“Witze” frequency rank
8261
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weite Witze
Definition räumliche Ausdehnung Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Witz

Where the eye mixes Weite and Witze

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

5 ch
Weite
5 ch
Witze

Visual trap between Weite and Witze

A purely visual mix-up. Weite ([ˈvaɪ̯tə]) and Witze ([ˈvɪt͡sə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weite is recorded at frequency rank #3,783, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯tə]. Witze is at rank #4,478, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɪt͡sə].

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 8261, this pair ranks #1,984,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Weite vs Witze

Shared letters: eitw. Private to "Weite": -. Private to "Witze": z.

"Weite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Witze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weiteewite · weiet · weitte · wetie · wiete · wweite
  • Witzeiwtze · witez · wittze · witzze · wizte · wtize · wwitze

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Weite" and "Witze" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯tə] versus [ˈvɪt͡sə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Weite" or "Witze"?
"Weite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,783 in our German list, against #4,478 for "Witze". 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 "Weite" and "Witze" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Weite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Witze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,984,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weite" and "Witze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weite 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 #1,984,996 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