widmenvswinkenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,134
“widmen” frequency rank
#16,881
“winken” frequency rank
24015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature widmen winken
Definition als Autor, Künstler oder Ähnliches ein eigenes Werk für jemand anderen bestimmen zur Begrüßung, zum Abschied oder, um Aufmerksamkeit zu erregen, mit der Hand in der Luft wedeln

Where the eye mixes widmen and winken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
widmen
6 ch
winken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. widmen ([ˈvɪtmən]) and winken ([ˈvɪŋkn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

widmen is recorded at frequency rank #7,134, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪtmən]. winken is at rank #16,881, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪŋkn̩].

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 24015, this pair ranks #1,853,472 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of widmen vs winken

Shared letters: einw. Private to "widmen": dm. Private to "winken": k.

"widmen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "winken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • widmeniwdmen · wdimen · widdmen · widemn · widmenn · widmmen · widmne · wimden
  • winkeniwnken · wiknen · winekn · winkenn · winkken · winkne · winnken · wniken

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "widmen" and "winken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪtmən] versus [ˈvɪŋkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "widmen" or "winken"?
"widmen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,134 in our German list, against #16,881 for "winken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list