Which to use
“wühlen” and “wüten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,397
- “wühlen” frequency rank
- #42,274
- “wüten” frequency rank
- 72671
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wühlen | wüten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | meist mit technischen Hilfsmitteln im Erdboden graben | kraftvoll agierend und oft ungerichtet Zerstörungen anrichten |
Where the eye mixes wühlen and wüten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wühlen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against wüten's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: wühlen vs wüten
A purely visual mix-up. wühlen ([ˈvyːlən]) and wüten ([ˈvyːtn̩]) 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 72671, 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]. wüten is at rank #42,274, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvyːtn̩].
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 72671, this pair ranks #381,739 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of wühlen vs wüten
Shared letters: enwü. Private to "wühlen": hl. Private to "wüten": t.
"wühlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wüten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wühlen" and "wüten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "wühlen" or "wüten"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "wühlen" and "wüten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wühlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wüten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #381,739 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wühlen" and "wüten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wotan vs wüten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #381,739 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.