widerlichvswunderlichWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,811
“widerlich” frequency rank
#27,578
“wunderlich” frequency rank
36389
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature widerlich wunderlich
Definition sehr unangenehm auf die Sinnesorgane wirkend kennzeichnend für Eigenarten und das Handeln Gottes

Where the eye mixes widerlich and wunderlich

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. widerlich runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against wunderlich's 10 (CVCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
widerlich
10 ch
wunderlich

Why the eye confuses widerlich with wunderlich

A purely visual mix-up. widerlich ([ˈviːdɐlɪç]) and wunderlich ([ˈvʊndɐlɪç]) 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 36389, 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]. wunderlich is at rank #27,578, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvʊndɐlɪç].

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 36389, this pair ranks #1,616,843 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of widerlich vs wunderlich

Shared letters: cdehilrw. Private to "widerlich": -. Private to "wunderlich": nu.

"widerlich" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "wunderlich" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • widerlich ← iwderlich · wdierlich · widderlich · widelrich · widerilch · widerlcih · widerlicch · widerlichh
  • wunderlich ← uwnderlich · wnuderlich · wudnerlich · wundderlich · wundelrich · wunderilch · wunderlcih · wunderlicch

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "widerlich" and "wunderlich" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈviːdɐlɪç] versus [ˈvʊndɐlɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "widerlich" or "wunderlich" show up more?
"widerlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,811 in our German list, against #27,578 for "wunderlich". 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 "widerlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wunderlich" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,616,843 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "widerlich" and "wunderlich" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "widerlich 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 #1,616,843 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