worldvsWorteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,374
“world” frequency rank
#1,002
“Worte” frequency rank
3376
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature world Worte
Definition kein Plural: der Planet Erde Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Wort

Where the eye mixes world and Worte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
world
5 ch
Worte

Visual trap between world and Worte

A purely visual mix-up. world ([wɜː(ɹ)ld]) and Worte ([ˈvɔʁtə]) 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 3376, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

world is recorded at frequency rank #2,374, classified as anoun, pronounced [wɜː(ɹ)ld]. Worte is at rank #1,002, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɔʁtə].

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 3376, this pair ranks #2,000,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of world vs Worte

Shared letters: orw. Private to "world": dl. Private to "Worte": et.

"world" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Worte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • worldowrld · wolrd · wordl · worldd · worlld · worrld · wrold · wworld
  • Worteowrte · woret · worrte · wortte · wotre · wrote · wworte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "world" for "Worte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([wɜː(ɹ)ld] versus [ˈvɔʁtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "world" or "Worte"?
"Worte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,002 in our German list, against #2,374 for "world". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "world" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Worte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,000,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "world" and "Worte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "waste vs Worte". 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 #2,000,350 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