widerlichevswiderlichenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,841
“widerliche” frequency rank
#36,129
“widerlichen” frequency rank
61970
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature widerliche widerlichen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs widerlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs widerlich

Where the eye mixes widerliche and widerlichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. widerliche runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCCV) against widerlichen's 11 (CVCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
widerliche
11 ch
widerlichen

Why the eye confuses widerliche with widerlichen

A purely visual mix-up. widerliche ([ˈviːdɐlɪçə]) and widerlichen ([ˈviːdɐlɪçn̩]) 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) - “widerliche” sits inside “widerlichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

widerliche is recorded at frequency rank #25,841, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈviːdɐlɪçə]. widerlichen is at rank #36,129, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈviːdɐlɪçn̩].

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 61970, this pair ranks #730,058 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of widerliche vs widerlichen

Shared letters: cdehilrw. Private to "widerliche": -. Private to "widerlichen": n.

"widerliche" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCV  ·  "widerlichen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • widerliche ← iwderliche · wdierliche · widderliche · widelriche · widerilche · widerlcihe · widerlicche · widerliceh
  • widerlichen ← iwderlichen · wdierlichen · widderlichen · widelrichen · widerilchen · widerlcihen · widerlicchen · widerlicehn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "widerliche" and "widerlichen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈviːdɐlɪçə] versus [ˈviːdɐlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "widerliche" or "widerlichen"?
"widerliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,841 in our German list, against #36,129 for "widerlichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "widerliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "widerlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #730,058 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "widerliche" and "widerlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "widerlichen vs winterlichen". 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 #730,058 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