Which to use
“wide” is an adjective and “wink” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,128
- “wide” frequency rank
- #22,970
- “wink” frequency rank
- 43098
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wide | wink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von großer Ausdehnung | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs winken |
Where the eye mixes wide and wink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: wide vs wink
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wide is [waɪd] while wink is [vɪŋk]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wide is recorded at frequency rank #20,128, classified as anadj, pronounced [waɪd]. wink is at rank #22,970, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪŋk].
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 43098, this pair ranks #1,428,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wide vs wink
Shared letters: iw. Private to "wide": de. Private to "wink": kn.
"wide" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "wink" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wide" and "wink" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "wide" or "wink"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "wide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,428,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wide" and "wink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "went vs wink". 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 #1,428,713 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.