WichtvswitchWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#42,950
“Wicht” frequency rank
#47,136
“witch” frequency rank
90086
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wicht witch
Definition kleine Sagengestalt, die gute Dinge verrichtet Hexe

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Wicht
5 ch
witch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Wicht ([vɪçt]) and witch ([wɪt͡ʃ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wicht is recorded at frequency rank #42,950, classified as anoun, pronounced [vɪçt]. witch is at rank #47,136, tagged as anoun, pronounced [wɪt͡ʃ].

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 90086, this pair ranks #50,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Wicht vs witch

Shared letters: chitw. Private to "Wicht": -. Private to "witch": -.

"Wicht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "witch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wichtiwcht · wciht · wiccht · wichht · wichtt · wicth · wihct · wwicht
  • witchiwtch · witcch · witchh · withc · wittch · wtich · wwitch

Frequency comparison

Wicht#42,950
witch#47,136

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wicht" and "witch" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([vɪçt] versus [wɪt͡ʃ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Wicht" or "witch"?
"Wicht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,950 in our German list, against #47,136 for "witch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Wicht vs witch

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Wicht” 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