Which to use
“wing” and “wire” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,772
- “wing” frequency rank
- #33,395
- “wire” frequency rank
- 53167
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wing | wire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Körperteil eines Tieres, der zum Fliegen befähigen kann; Flügel | Draht, Anschlusskabel |
Where the eye mixes wing and wire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between wing and wire
A purely visual mix-up. wing ([wɪŋ]) and wire ([waɪə]) 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 53167, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wing is recorded at frequency rank #19,772, classified as anoun, pronounced [wɪŋ]. wire is at rank #33,395, tagged as anoun, pronounced [waɪə].
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 53167, this pair ranks #1,068,596 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wing vs wire
Shared letters: iw. Private to "wing": gn. Private to "wire": er.
"wing" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "wire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wing" and "wire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "wing" or "wire" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "wing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,068,596 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wing" and "wire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wig vs wire". 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 #1,068,596 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.