wingsvswinkConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,742
“wings” frequency rank
#22,970
“wink” frequency rank
36712
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wings wink
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wing 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs winken

Letter map: wings vs wink

Shared letters muted; letters that set wings and wink apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
wings
4 ch
wink

Pair insight - wings / wink

wings and wink are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36712, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wings is recorded at frequency rank #13,742, classified as averb, pronounced […]. wink is at rank #22,970, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪŋk].

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 36712, this pair ranks #1,608,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wings vs wink

Shared letters: inw. Private to "wings": gs. Private to "wink": k.

"wings" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "wink" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wingsiwngs · wigns · winggs · wingss · winngs · winsg · wnigs · wwings
  • winkiwnk · wikn · winkk · winnk · wnik · wwink

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "wings" for "wink" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "wings" vs "wink" - which ranks higher?
"wings" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,742 in our German list, against #22,970 for "wink". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "wings" vs "wink" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wings" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,608,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wings" and "wink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "went vs wink". 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 #1,608,611 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