Which to use
“wire” is a noun and “wirf” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,395
- “wire” frequency rank
- #22,573
- “wirf” frequency rank
- 55968
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wire | wirf |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Draht, Anschlusskabel | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs werfen |
Where the eye mixes wire and wirf
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: wire vs wirf
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wire is [waɪə] while wirf is [vɪʁf]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “wire” becomes f in “wirf”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wire is recorded at frequency rank #33,395, classified as anoun, pronounced [waɪə]. wirf is at rank #22,573, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪʁf].
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 55968, this pair ranks #958,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wire vs wirf
Shared letters: irw. Private to "wire": e. Private to "wirf": f.
"wire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "wirf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wire" for "wirf" ever safe?
Frequency check: "wire" vs "wirf" - which ranks higher?
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 "wire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wirf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #958,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wire" and "wirf" 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 #958,713 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.