Weh

[veː]

/[veː]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Weh” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #2,474) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#2,474
frequency rank, German
2,930
“W” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - seelischer Schmerz

Corpus desk

Index DE-weh · Weh · German

Weh · rank #2,474 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,474
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,930
  • PHOTO-FINISH Vorsitzender

Nearest frequency peer: Vorsitzender (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „Weh“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „Weh“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Weh vs wo
0% similar
Weh vs WM
33% similar
Weh vs wi
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Weh
PropertyValue
HeadwordWeh
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[veː]
Letters3
Frequency rank#2,474
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „Weh“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Wehliegt auf dieser Marke:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Vorsitzender“ (#2,473), „wichtigste“ (#2,475), „vorgestellt“ (#2,472). Unter 2,930 „W“-Lemmata liegt „Weh“ bei #2,474. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Weh is neighbouring look-alikes ("wo", "WM", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [veː]. Frequency #2,474 among 2,930 “W” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Weh, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "wo", "WM", "wi", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is Weh, spelled W-E-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    seelischer Schmerz
  2. 2
    körperlicher Schmerz

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Weh appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Sein Wohl und Weh hing am seidenen Faden.
  2. „Diesem Etwas, als dem unverwelklichen Keime des irdischen Lebens, und dem Prinzip alles Wohls steht geradezu der Grund der Vergänglichkeit und Hinfälligkeit, der irdische Tod, als das Prinzip alles Wehes entgegen.“

Synonyms

Schmerz

Antonyms

WonneWohl

This word in other languages

ache(English)dolor(Español)douleur(Français)

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 "Weh"?
"Weh" is spelled W-E-H. The IPA pronunciation is [veː].
What does "Weh" mean?
As a noun, "Weh" means: seelischer Schmerz
What words are commonly confused with "Weh"?
"Weh" is commonly confused with "wo", "WM", "wi". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Weh"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Weh" is [veː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Weh" come from?
"Weh" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Weh", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Gas#2,445tom#2,521ums#2,417Mut#2,405

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list