würdigvswürzigWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,792
“würdig” frequency rank
#48,643
“würzig” frequency rank
60435
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature würdig würzig
Definition etwas verdient habend; so, dass jemandem etwas zusteht von kräftigem und aromatischem Geschmack oder Geruch

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set würdig and würzig apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
würdig
6 ch
würzig

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. würdig ([ˈvʏʁdɪç]) and würzig ([ˈvʏʁt͡sɪç]) 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 a single letter - d in “würdig” becomes z in “würzig”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

würdig is recorded at frequency rank #11,792, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvʏʁdɪç]. würzig is at rank #48,643, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvʏʁt͡sɪç].

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 60435, this pair ranks #787,111 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of würdig vs würzig

Shared letters: girwü. Private to "würdig": d. Private to "würzig": z.

"würdig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "würzig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "würdig" and "würzig" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvʏʁdɪç] versus [ˈvʏʁt͡sɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "würdig" or "würzig"?
"würdig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,792 in our German list, against #48,643 for "würzig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list