abgesprochenvsausgesprochenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,284
“abgesprochen” frequency rank
#3,230
“ausgesprochen” frequency rank
18514
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abgesprochen ausgesprochen
Definition vereinbart, ausgemacht, festgelegt, verabredet im vollen, uneingeschränkten Sinne des Wortes

Where the eye mixes abgesprochen and ausgesprochen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.

12 ch
abgesprochen
13 ch
ausgesprochen

Why the eye confuses abgesprochen with ausgesprochen

A purely visual mix-up. abgesprochen ([ˈapɡəˌʃpʁɔxn̩]) and ausgesprochen ([ˈaʊ̯sɡəˈʃpʁɔxn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abgesprochen is recorded at frequency rank #15,284, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈapɡəˌʃpʁɔxn̩]. ausgesprochen is at rank #3,230, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˈʃpʁɔxn̩].

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 18514, this pair ranks #1,917,470 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abgesprochen vs ausgesprochen

Shared letters: aceghnoprs. Private to "abgesprochen": b. Private to "ausgesprochen": u.

"abgesprochen" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCCVC  ·  "ausgesprochen" · 13 letters · shape VVCCVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abgesprochenabbgesprochen · abegsprochen · abgepsrochen · abgesporchen · abgespprochen · abgesprcohen · abgesprocchen · abgesprocehn
  • ausgesprochenasugesprochen · augsesprochen · ausegsprochen · ausgepsrochen · ausgesporchen · ausgespprochen · ausgesprcohen · ausgesprocchen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abgesprochen" for "ausgesprochen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapɡəˌʃpʁɔxn̩] versus [ˈaʊ̯sɡəˈʃpʁɔxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abgesprochen" vs "ausgesprochen" - which ranks higher?
"ausgesprochen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,230 in our German list, against #15,284 for "abgesprochen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abgesprochen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausgesprochen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,917,470 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abgesprochen" and "ausgesprochen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abgesprochen vs angesprochene". 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 #1,917,470 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