widerlichvswiderlicheConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#8,811
“widerlich” frequency rank
#25,841
“widerliche” frequency rank
34652
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature widerlich widerliche
Definition sehr unangenehm auf die Sinnesorgane wirkend Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs widerlich

Where the eye mixes widerlich and widerliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. widerlich runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against widerliche's 10 (CVCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
widerlich
10 ch
widerliche

Why the eye confuses widerlich with widerliche

A purely visual mix-up. widerlich ([ˈviːdɐlɪç]) and widerliche ([ˈviːdɐlɪçə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “widerlich” sits inside “widerliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34652, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

widerlich is recorded at frequency rank #8,811, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈviːdɐlɪç]. widerliche is at rank #25,841, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈviːdɐlɪçə].

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 34652, this pair ranks #1,658,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of widerlich vs widerliche

Shared letters: cdehilrw. Private to "widerlich": -. Private to "widerliche": -.

"widerlich" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "widerliche" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • widerlich ← iwderlich · wdierlich · widderlich · widelrich · widerilch · widerlcih · widerlicch · widerlichh
  • widerliche ← iwderliche · wdierliche · widderliche · widelriche · widerilche · widerlcihe · widerlicche · widerliceh

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "widerlich" and "widerliche" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈviːdɐlɪç] versus [ˈviːdɐlɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "widerlich" vs "widerliche" - which ranks higher?
"widerlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,811 in our German list, against #25,841 for "widerliche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "widerlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "widerliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,658,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "widerlich" and "widerliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "widerliche vs widerlichen". 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 #1,658,377 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