WindelvsWindesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#30,394
“Windel” frequency rank
#36,738
“Windes” frequency rank
67132
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Windel Windes
Definition körpernah eingesetzter Saugkörper zur Aufnahme von Urin und/oder Kot Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Wind

Where the eye mixes Windel and Windes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Windel
6 ch
Windes

Why the eye confuses Windel with Windes

A purely visual mix-up. Windel ([ˈvɪndl̩]) and Windes ([ˈvɪndəs]) 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 a single letter - l in “Windel” becomes s in “Windes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Windel is recorded at frequency rank #30,394, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɪndl̩]. Windes is at rank #36,738, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɪndəs].

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 67132, this pair ranks #550,239 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Windel vs Windes

Shared letters: deinw. Private to "Windel": l. Private to "Windes": s.

"Windel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Windes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Windeliwndel · widnel · winddel · windell · windle · winedl · winndel · wnidel
  • Windesiwndes · widnes · winddes · windess · windse · wineds · winndes · wnides

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Windel" for "Windes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪndl̩] versus [ˈvɪndəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Windel" or "Windes" show up more?
"Windel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,394 in our German list, against #36,738 for "Windes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Windel" and "Windes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Windel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Windes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #550,239 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Windel" and "Windes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Windes 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 #550,239 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