Which to use
“wide” and “wirre” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,128
- “wide” frequency rank
- #45,704
- “wirre” frequency rank
- 65832
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wide | wirre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von großer Ausdehnung | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wirr |
Where the eye mixes wide and wirre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. wide runs 4 letters (CVCV) against wirre's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses wide with wirre
A purely visual mix-up. wide ([waɪd]) and wirre ([ˈvɪʁə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65832, 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]. wirre is at rank #45,704, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁə].
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 65832, this pair ranks #593,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wide vs wirre
Shared letters: eiw. Private to "wide": d. Private to "wirre": r.
"wide" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "wirre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wide" and "wirre" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "wide" or "wirre"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wirre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #593,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wide" and "wirre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wirre vs wirres". 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 #593,489 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.