WelservswilderWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Welser is a noun, wilder is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Welser” is a noun and “wilder” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,947
“Welser” frequency rank
#10,783
“wilder” frequency rank
53730
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Welser wilder
Definition Angehöriger einer Patrizierfamilie von Großkaufleuten, die aus Augsburg und Nürnberg stammt Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs wild

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Welser and wilder apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Welser
6 ch
wilder

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Welser is [ˈvɛlzɐ] while wilder is [ˈvɪldɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Welser is recorded at frequency rank #42,947, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛlzɐ]. wilder is at rank #10,783, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪldɐ].

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 53730, this pair ranks #1,046,569 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Welser vs wilder

Shared letters: elrw. Private to "Welser": s. Private to "wilder": di.

"Welser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "wilder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Welserewlser · welesr · wellser · welserr · welsre · welsser · wesler · wleser
  • wilderiwlder · widler · wildder · wilderr · wildre · wiledr · willder · wlider

Frequency comparison

Welser#42,947
wilder#10,783

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Welser" and "wilder" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Welser" is a noun and "wilder" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Welser" or "wilder"?
"wilder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,783 in our German list, against #42,947 for "Welser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Welser vs wilder

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Welser”; for an adjective, it's “wilder”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Welser” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list