WeltkriegvsWeltkriegenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,698
“Weltkrieg” frequency rank
#39,723
“Weltkriegen” frequency rank
42421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weltkrieg Weltkriegen
Definition bewaffneter Konflikt, an welchem viele Länder beteiligt sind und dessen Kampfhandlungen sich über einen großen Teil der Erde erstrecken Dativ Plural des Substantivs Weltkrieg

Where the eye mixes Weltkrieg and Weltkriegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Weltkrieg runs 9 letters (CVCCCCVVC) against Weltkriegen's 11 (CVCCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Weltkrieg
11 ch
Weltkriegen

Look-alike desk: Weltkrieg vs Weltkriegen

A purely visual mix-up. Weltkrieg ([ˈvɛltˌkʁiːk]) and Weltkriegen ([ˈvɛltˌkʁiːɡn̩]) 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) - “Weltkrieg” sits inside “Weltkriegen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weltkrieg is recorded at frequency rank #2,698, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛltˌkʁiːk]. Weltkriegen is at rank #39,723, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛltˌkʁiːɡn̩].

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 42421, this pair ranks #1,449,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Weltkrieg vs Weltkriegen

Shared letters: egiklrtw. Private to "Weltkrieg": -. Private to "Weltkriegen": n.

"Weltkrieg" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVVC  ·  "Weltkriegen" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weltkrieg ← ewltkrieg · welktrieg · welltkrieg · weltkireg · weltkkrieg · weltkreig · weltkriegg · weltkrige
  • Weltkriegen ← ewltkriegen · welktriegen · welltkriegen · weltkiregen · weltkkriegen · weltkreigen · weltkrieegn · weltkriegenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Weltkrieg" and "Weltkriegen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛltˌkʁiːk] versus [ˈvɛltˌkʁiːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Weltkrieg" or "Weltkriegen" show up more?
"Weltkrieg" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,698 in our German list, against #39,723 for "Weltkriegen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Weltkrieg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Weltkriegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,449,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weltkrieg" and "Weltkriegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weltfrieden vs Weltkriegen". 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 #1,449,810 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