Which to use
“wühlen” and “würgen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,397
- “wühlen” frequency rank
- #29,877
- “würgen” frequency rank
- 60274
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wühlen | würgen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | meist mit technischen Hilfsmitteln im Erdboden graben | jemandem die Kehle zudrücken |
Where the eye mixes wühlen and würgen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wühlen and würgen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses wühlen with würgen
A purely visual mix-up. wühlen ([ˈvyːlən]) and würgen ([ˈvʏʁɡn̩]) 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 60274, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wühlen is recorded at frequency rank #30,397, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvyːlən]. würgen is at rank #29,877, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvʏʁɡn̩].
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 60274, this pair ranks #793,082 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wühlen vs würgen
Shared letters: enwü. Private to "wühlen": hl. Private to "würgen": gr.
"wühlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "würgen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wühlen" for "würgen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "wühlen" vs "würgen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wühlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "würgen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #793,082 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wühlen" and "würgen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weilen vs wühlen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #793,082 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.