AbfuhrvsAbwehrWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#33,415
“Abfuhr” frequency rank
#6,138
“Abwehr” frequency rank
39553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abfuhr Abwehr
Definition das Wegfahren, Abtransportieren von etwas Maßnahme, um einen Angriff oder dessen beabsichtigte Auswirkung zu stoppen

Where the eye mixes Abfuhr and Abwehr

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Abfuhr and Abwehr follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Abfuhr
6 ch
Abwehr

Look-alike desk: Abfuhr vs Abwehr

A purely visual mix-up. Abfuhr ([ˈapˌfuːɐ̯]) and Abwehr ([ˈapˌveːɐ̯]) 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 39553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abfuhr is recorded at frequency rank #33,415, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌfuːɐ̯]. Abwehr is at rank #6,138, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈapˌveːɐ̯].

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 39553, this pair ranks #1,533,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Abfuhr vs Abwehr

Shared letters: abhr. Private to "Abfuhr": fu. Private to "Abwehr": ew.

"Abfuhr" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "Abwehr" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abfuhr ← abbfuhr · abffuhr · abfhur · abfuhhr · abfuhrr · abfurh · abufhr · afbuhr
  • Abwehr ← abbwehr · abewhr · abwehhr · abwehrr · abwerh · abwher · abwwehr · awbehr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Abfuhr" for "Abwehr" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌfuːɐ̯] versus [ˈapˌveːɐ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Abfuhr" vs "Abwehr" - which ranks higher?
"Abwehr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,138 in our German list, against #33,415 for "Abfuhr". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abfuhr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Abwehr" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,533,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abfuhr" and "Abwehr" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Abfuhr vs Ausfuhr". 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 #1,533,584 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