Which to use
“winke” and “winken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,873
- “winke” frequency rank
- #16,881
- “winken” frequency rank
- 49754
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | winke | winken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs winken | zur Begrüßung, zum Abschied oder, um Aufmerksamkeit zu erregen, mit der Hand in der Luft wedeln |
Where the eye mixes winke and winken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. winke runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against winken's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: winke vs winken
A purely visual mix-up. winke ([ˈvɪŋkə]) 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 differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “winke” sits inside “winken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49754, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
winke is recorded at frequency rank #32,873, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪŋkə]. 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 49754, this pair ranks #1,199,596 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of winke vs winken
Shared letters: eiknw. Private to "winke": -. Private to "winken": -.
"winke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "winken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "winke" and "winken" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "winke" vs "winken" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "winke" and "winken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "winke" 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 #1,199,596 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "winke" and "winken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wickel vs winke". 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 #1,199,596 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.