wanken
[ˈvaŋkn̩]
The verdict
“wanken” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #25,833 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #25,833
- frequency rank, German
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - hin und her neigen, in der Gefahr zu kippen
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | wanken |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈvaŋkn̩] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #25,833 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wanken” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for wanken is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈvaŋkn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #25,833 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for wanken, with forms such as "awnken", "waknen", and "wanekn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "wann", "waren", "Wanne", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is wanken, spelled W-A-N-K-E-N.
Definition
- 1hin und her neigen, in der Gefahr zu kippen
- 2in eine bestimmte Richtung sich unsicher hin und her bewegen
- 3unsicher sein; innerlich infrage stellen
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: awnken,waknen,wanekn,wankenn,wankken,wankne,wannken,wnaken,wwanken
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wanken - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "wanken"?
What does "wanken" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "wanken"?
How do you pronounce "wanken"?
What language does "wanken" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “wanken”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is W-A-N-K-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈvaŋkn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “wann” - see the side-by-side comparison. wanken vs wann
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.