Which to use
“Wels” and “Welser” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,523
- “Wels” frequency rank
- #42,947
- “Welser” frequency rank
- 58470
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Wels | Welser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fisch der Gattung Silurus oder der Familie Siluridae | Angehöriger einer Patrizierfamilie von Großkaufleuten, die aus Augsburg und Nürnberg stammt |
Where the eye mixes Wels and Welser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Wels runs 4 letters (CVCC) against Welser's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Wels vs Welser
A purely visual mix-up. Wels ([vɛls]) and Welser ([ˈvɛlzɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Wels” sits inside “Welser”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Wels is recorded at frequency rank #15,523, classified as anoun, pronounced [vɛls]. Welser is at rank #42,947, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛlzɐ].
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 58470, this pair ranks #861,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Wels vs Welser
Shared letters: elsw. Private to "Wels": -. Private to "Welser": r.
"Wels" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Welser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Wels" for "Welser" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Wels" or "Welser" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Wels" and "Welser" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Wels" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Welser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #861,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Wels" and "Welser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weaver vs Welser". 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 #861,549 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.