Which to use
“wüten” is a verb and “wütende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,274
- “wüten” frequency rank
- #24,206
- “wütende” frequency rank
- 66480
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wüten | wütende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | kraftvoll agierend und oft ungerichtet Zerstörungen anrichten | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wütend |
Where the eye mixes wüten and wütende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. wüten runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against wütende's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between wüten and wütende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wüten is [ˈvyːtn̩] while wütende is [ˈvyːtn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “wüten” sits inside “wütende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66480, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wüten is recorded at frequency rank #42,274, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvyːtn̩]. wütende is at rank #24,206, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvyːtn̩də].
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 66480, this pair ranks #571,819 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wüten vs wütende
Shared letters: entwü. Private to "wüten": -. Private to "wütende": d.
"wüten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "wütende" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wüten" for "wütende" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "wüten" or "wütende" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "wüten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wütende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #571,819 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wüten" and "wütende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wotan vs wüten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #571,819 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.