windetvswinkenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#39,727
“windet” frequency rank
#16,881
“winken” frequency rank
56608
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature windet winken
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs winden zur Begrüßung, zum Abschied oder, um Aufmerksamkeit zu erregen, mit der Hand in der Luft wedeln

Where the eye mixes windet and winken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. windet and winken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
windet
6 ch
winken

Look-alike desk: windet vs winken

A purely visual mix-up. windet ([ˈvɪndət]) 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 56608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

windet is recorded at frequency rank #39,727, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪndət]. 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 56608, this pair ranks #933,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of windet vs winken

Shared letters: einw. Private to "windet": dt. Private to "winken": k.

"windet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "winken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • windet ← iwndet · widnet · winddet · windett · windte · winedt · winndet · wnidet
  • winken ← iwnken · wiknen · winekn · winkenn · winkken · winkne · winnken · wniken

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "windet" and "winken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪndət] versus [ˈvɪŋkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "windet" or "winken"?
"winken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,881 in our German list, against #39,727 for "windet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "windet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "winken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #933,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "windet" and "winken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "windet vs wurdet". 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 #933,749 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