abgelegtvsabgelöstWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,132
“abgelegt” frequency rank
#10,407
“abgelöst” frequency rank
19539
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgelegt abgelöst
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ablegen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs ablösen

Where the eye mixes abgelegt and abgelöst

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

8 ch
abgelegt
8 ch
abgelöst

Visual trap between abgelegt and abgelöst

A purely visual mix-up. abgelegt ([ˈapɡəˌleːkt]) and abgelöst ([ˈapɡəˌløːst]) 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 19539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgelegt is recorded at frequency rank #9,132, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌleːkt]. abgelöst is at rank #10,407, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌløːst].

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 19539, this pair ranks #1,907,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abgelegt vs abgelöst

Shared letters: abeglt. Private to "abgelegt": -. Private to "abgelöst": sö.

"abgelegt" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC  ·  "abgelöst" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgelegt ← abbgelegt · abeglegt · abgeelgt · abgeleggt · abgelegtt · abgeletg · abgelget · abgellegt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abgelegt" for "abgelöst" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapɡəˌleːkt] versus [ˈapɡəˌløːst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abgelegt" or "abgelöst"?
"abgelegt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,132 in our German list, against #10,407 for "abgelöst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgelegt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abgelöst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,907,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgelegt" and "abgelöst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgelegen vs abgelegt". 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 #1,907,283 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