Which to use
“wire” and “wurd” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,395
- “wire” frequency rank
- #25,845
- “wurd” frequency rank
- 59240
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wire | wurd |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Draht, Anschlusskabel | kleinste selbstständige bedeutungstragende Einheit der Sprache; Wort |
Where the eye mixes wire and wurd
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: wire vs wurd
A purely visual mix-up. wire ([waɪə]) and wurd ([vøt]) 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 59240, 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]. wurd is at rank #25,845, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vøt].
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 59240, this pair ranks #831,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wire vs wurd
Shared letters: rw. Private to "wire": ei. Private to "wurd": du.
"wire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "wurd" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wire" for "wurd" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "wire" or "wurd" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "wurd" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #831,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wire" and "wurd" 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 #831,998 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.