abfeiernvsanfeuernWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,180
“abfeiern” frequency rank
#36,785
“anfeuern” frequency rank
83965
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abfeiern anfeuern
Definition Überstunden abbauen jemanden motivieren; jemanden durch Gesten (meist Zurufe/Klatschen) antreiben etwas erfolgreich zu beenden/durchzuführen

Where the eye mixes abfeiern and anfeuern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abfeiern and anfeuern follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
abfeiern
8 ch
anfeuern

Why the eye confuses abfeiern with anfeuern

A purely visual mix-up. abfeiern ([ˈapˌfaɪ̯ɐn]) and anfeuern ([ˈanˌfɔɪ̯ɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abfeiern is recorded at frequency rank #47,180, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌfaɪ̯ɐn]. anfeuern is at rank #36,785, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈanˌfɔɪ̯ɐn].

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 83965, this pair ranks #131,309 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abfeiern vs anfeuern

Shared letters: aefnr. Private to "abfeiern": bi. Private to "anfeuern": u.

"abfeiern" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVVCC  ·  "anfeuern" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abfeiern ← abbfeiern · abefiern · abfeeirn · abfeienr · abfeiernn · abfeierrn · abfeiren · abffeiern
  • anfeuern ← afneuern · anefuern · anfeeurn · anfeuenr · anfeuernn · anfeuerrn · anfeuren · anffeuern

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abfeiern" for "anfeuern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌfaɪ̯ɐn] versus [ˈanˌfɔɪ̯ɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "abfeiern" or "anfeuern" show up more?
"anfeuern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,785 in our German list, against #47,180 for "abfeiern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abfeiern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "anfeuern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #131,309 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abfeiern" and "anfeuern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abfeiern vs abfeuern". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #131,309 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list