Which to use
“wirken” is a verb and “wirre” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,533
- “wirken” frequency rank
- #45,704
- “wirre” frequency rank
- 47237
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wirken | wirre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tätig sein, nützlich sein, etwas schaffen, etwas vollbringen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wirr |
Where the eye mixes wirken and wirre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wirken runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against wirre's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses wirken with wirre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wirken is [ˈvɪʁkn̩] while wirre is [ˈvɪʁə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wirken is recorded at frequency rank #1,533, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪʁkn̩]. wirre is at rank #45,704, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪʁə].
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 47237, this pair ranks #1,291,460 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wirken vs wirre
Shared letters: eirw. Private to "wirken": kn. Private to "wirre": -.
"wirken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wirre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wirken" and "wirre" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "wirken" vs "wirre" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "wirken" and "wirre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wirken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wirre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,291,460 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wirken" and "wirre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wirre vs wirres". 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 #1,291,460 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.