Which to use
“wischen” and “wünschen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,766
- “wischen” frequency rank
- #1,465
- “wünschen” frequency rank
- 20231
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wischen | wünschen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas, zum Beispiel Schmutz von einer Oberfläche, entfernen, eventuell mit einem Lappen | etwas ersehnen, erhoffen |
Where the eye mixes wischen and wünschen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. wischen runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against wünschen's 8 (CVCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between wischen and wünschen
A purely visual mix-up. wischen ([ˈvɪʃn̩]) and wünschen ([ˈvʏnʃn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20231, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wischen is recorded at frequency rank #18,766, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪʃn̩]. wünschen is at rank #1,465, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvʏnʃn̩].
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 20231, this pair ranks #1,899,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wischen vs wünschen
Shared letters: cehnsw. Private to "wischen": i. Private to "wünschen": ü.
"wischen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "wünschen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wischen ← iwschen · wiscchen · wiscehn · wischenn · wischhen · wischne · wishcen · wisschen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wischen" for "wünschen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "wischen" or "wünschen" show up more?
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 "wischen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wünschen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,899,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wischen" and "wünschen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weilchen vs wischen". 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 #1,899,912 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.