WokvswolfWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#42,270
“Wok” frequency rank
#2,277
“wolf” frequency rank
44547
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wok wolf
Definition chinesische Form der Pfanne, ähnelt eher einer großen Metallschüssel Wolf

Where the eye mixes Wok and wolf

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
Wok
4 ch
wolf

Look-alike desk: Wok vs wolf

A purely visual mix-up. Wok ([vɔk]) and wolf ([wʊłf]) 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 44547, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wok is recorded at frequency rank #42,270, classified as anoun, pronounced [vɔk]. wolf is at rank #2,277, tagged as anoun, pronounced [wʊłf].

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 44547, this pair ranks #1,382,661 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Wok vs wolf

Shared letters: ow. Private to "Wok": k. Private to "wolf": fl.

"Wok" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "wolf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wolfowlf · wlof · wofl · wollf · wwolf

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wok" and "wolf" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([vɔk] versus [wʊłf]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Wok" vs "wolf" - which ranks higher?
"wolf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,277 in our German list, against #42,270 for "Wok". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Wok" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wolf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,382,661 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Wok" and "wolf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wig vs Wok". 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 #1,382,661 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