wichstvswirkstWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,699
“wichst” frequency rank
#38,527
“wirkst” frequency rank
84226
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wichst wirkst
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wichsen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wirken

Where the eye mixes wichst and wirkst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wichst and wirkst follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
wichst
6 ch
wirkst

Why the eye confuses wichst with wirkst

A purely visual mix-up. wichst ([vɪkst]) and wirkst ([vɪʁkst]) 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 84226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wichst is recorded at frequency rank #45,699, classified as averb, pronounced [vɪkst]. wirkst is at rank #38,527, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪʁkst].

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 84226, this pair ranks #127,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of wichst vs wirkst

Shared letters: istw. Private to "wichst": ch. Private to "wirkst": kr.

"wichst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "wirkst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wichst ← iwchst · wcihst · wicchst · wichhst · wichsst · wichstt · wichts · wihcst
  • wirkst ← iwrkst · wikrst · wirkkst · wirksst · wirkstt · wirkts · wirrkst · wirskt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wichst" and "wirkst" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([vɪkst] versus [vɪʁkst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "wichst" vs "wirkst" - which ranks higher?
"wirkst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,527 in our German list, against #45,699 for "wichst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wichst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wirkst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #127,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wichst" and "wirkst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wichse vs wichst". 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 #127,073 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