WintervsWunderWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,249
“Winter” frequency rank
#1,797
“Wunder” frequency rank
3046
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Winter Wunder
Definition Jahreszeit nach dem Herbst und vor dem Frühling, auf der nördlichen Halbkugel Zeit von Dezember bis März etwas, das über das alltägliche Verständnis hinausgeht; eine Überschreitung der anerkannten Naturgesetze

Where the eye mixes Winter and Wunder

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Winter
6 ch
Wunder

Why the eye confuses Winter with Wunder

A purely visual mix-up. Winter ([ˈvɪntɐ]) and Wunder ([ˈvʊndɐ]) 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 3046, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Winter is recorded at frequency rank #1,249, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɪntɐ]. Wunder is at rank #1,797, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvʊndɐ].

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 3046, this pair ranks #2,001,062 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Winter vs Wunder

Shared letters: enrw. Private to "Winter": it. Private to "Wunder": du.

"Winter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Wunder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Winteriwnter · winetr · winnter · winterr · wintre · wintter · witner · wniter
  • Wunderuwnder · wnuder · wudner · wundder · wunderr · wundre · wunedr · wunnder

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Winter" for "Wunder" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪntɐ] versus [ˈvʊndɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Winter" vs "Wunder" - which ranks higher?
"Winter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,249 in our German list, against #1,797 for "Wunder". 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 "Winter" and "Wunder" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Winter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wunder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,062 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Winter" and "Wunder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Winter vs writer". 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 #2,001,062 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